Latest news with #Batohi
The Citizen
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
ActionSA demands Batohi's removal over NPA's ‘growing failures'
ActionSA has asked the justice minister to initiate Batohi's removal and begin a process of investigating deep-rooted dysfunction within the NPA. ActionSA members yesterday marched and protested outside the office of the minister of justice in Pretoria to demand the removal of the national director of Public Prosecution Shamila Batohi due to what it described as the growing list of failures by the NPA under her leadership. Action SA president Herman Mashaba led the protest, which saw some victims sharing their injustices by the NPA before a memorandum of demands was signed and handed over to a representative of the minister. Demands to justice minister In the memo, the party demanded that the minister, as the Cabinet member responsible for justice and constitutional development, engaged President Cyril Ramaphosa to exercise the powers afforded him under Section 12 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act and initiate the formal process for the removal of Batohi. A call for Batohi's suspension and investigation into NPA Mashaba said the process must begin with her immediate suspension, pending an investigation into the systemic dysfunction in the NPA. ALSO READ: Hawks and NPA explain why corruption investigations and prosecutions take long 'While acknowledging that overhauling and correcting the NPA does not begin and end with the removal of Batohi, it remains an important first step in demonstrating that continued poor performance will be met with decisive action. 'South Africans are clear in their demand for us to fight to end the culture of impunity and to put the institution on notice that it must either deliver, or face the consequences,' he said. 'Genuine sense of hope' Mashaba said Batohi's appointment in December 2018 was intended to mark a break from the dark era of state capture, a period marked by political interference and institutional decay. 'Her arrival was met with rare national consensus and a genuine sense of hope that justice would finally be restored and those responsible for looting the state would be held accountable. Yet, nearly six years later, that hope has curdled,' he said. NOW READ: Batohi clarifies NPA infiltration claims to justice minister amid criticism
Daily Maverick
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
‘A refuge for the connected' — ActionSA slams NPA, calls for Batohi's removal
NPA boss Shamila Batohi continues to face criticism over her leadership, with ActionSA protesting in Tshwane on Thursday, calling for her removal. While the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) continues to face criticism over its failure to lead successful prosecutions in several high-profile cases, ActionSA staged a protest outside the justice minister's offices in Tshwane on Thursday, 19 June, calling for the removal of NPA boss Shamila Batohi. 'Worryingly, the NPA has become a refuge for the politically connected, a place where accountability is avoided, justice is delayed and prosecutions collapse with alarming regularity,' said ActionSA president Herman Mashaba and the party's parliamentary head Athol Trollip in a joint statement after submitting a memorandum. 'Supported by victims of the NPA's failure to ensure that our criminal justice system protects the public and tackles rampant lawlessness, ActionSA's demand for the removal of advocate Batohi rests on the lived experiences of those who have been failed by a prosecuting body clearly incapable of fulfilling its mandate.' Batohi has faced criticism after several State Capture cases have been thrown out of court. ActionSA supporters emphasised the Timothy Omotoso case, with the Nigerian televangelist walking free in April after being cleared of all 32 charges – including rape and human trafficking. Hlengiwe Zondi, 23, an ActionSA supporter who arrived from Johannesburg, told Daily Maverick that she attended Thursday's protest because she was concerned about what the Omotoso case meant for her own safety. 'I am very scared. I am very scared for myself, for my younger sisters. I am scared for every single girl. 'The release of Omotoso after so much clear evidence against him, for me, was an indication that not a single woman or girl is safe under the current leadership of the NPA … What angers me most is that the leader of the NPA is a woman herself,' Zondi said. Sibongile Msomi, 48, said, 'These are the cases you want to use and set an example to intruders like Omotoso, whose actions amounted to peeing on our sovereignty. He needs to be brought back. 'There will be no shame in the NPA in doing that, failed as they have. In fact, many South Africans would be delighted to see Omotoso brought back to face the music. I did not trust the NPA at all since the Zuma years, but now I hate them for their conduct in the Omotoso and many State Capture cases,' said. Msomi, who said she was not a supporter of ActionSA, urged all South Africans to voice their displeasure with the criminal justice system. 'It only benefits the rich and corners ordinary South Africans,' Msomi said. Omotoso left the country in May and was declared a prohibited person for overstaying his visa and entering SA on a false permit. 'Batohi must go. We need somebody new, hopefully with a much clearer vision and guts,' Tisietso Mofokeng, 39, from the East Rand, said on Thursday. The ActionSA leaders said that while Batohi's 2018 appointment was met with hope that the NPA would move past an era defined by State Capture, 'that hope has curdled into deep public disillusionment'. 'The institution remains directionless, riven by internal factionalism, and wholly unable, or unwilling, to act decisively against either high-level corruption or pervasive violent crime. 'From troubling vacancy rates across provinces and key units within the NPA, to the failure to prosecute any high-profile cases arising from the Zondo Commission, to botched cases involving Timothy Omotoso, Ace Magashule, Moroadi Cholota and Zizi Kodwa, and the apparent laissez-faire approach to consequence management within the institution, the case for the removal of the NDPP is made by her own widely evident failures as the head of the institution. Batohi refuses to step aside Batohi has repeatedly denied that the NPA is in crisis. 'I want to say that, as the NDPP, I will not be stepping down because I believe that we are doing a really good job to serve the people of this country – as we have been – and, particularly, the victims of crime,' Batohi told MPs in Parliament this week. Batohi conceded there were '10 to 12 cases… that the NPA is coming for a lot of flak on'. 'There are legal processes and I urge that we consider these cases individually and consider where is the actual problem. And once we understand the actual problem, make sure we put in place solutions which address the problem,' she said. 'There are huge systemic problems in the criminal justice system. And I want to say that as the national director, I will not be [stepping] down because I believe that we are doing a really good job. And I will continue with my really good team to serve the people of this country,' said Batohi. In a recent SABC interview, Batohi said, 'There certainly have been setbacks and I don't want to underplay that. There've been major setbacks for the institution. But we're dealing with them.' During her presentation to the parliamentary justice committee on Tuesday, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said one of the problems facing the NPA was corruption. She said lifestyle audits could help address this. 'With lifestyle audits, we are able to see the patterns. We have agreed that this work will be done and we have committed that it will be started in this financial year,' she said. Batohi's term is set to expire in January 2026, and civil society groups have called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to make the appointment process of her successor public, in a similar fashion to the public interviews Batohi faced before she was appointed. DM
Eyewitness News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
State prepping to argue appeal against Omotoso acquittal in open court, reveals Batohi
CAPE TOWN - National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shamila Batohi says the State is preparing to argue its first step in the appeal against the judgement in the Timothy Omotoso human trafficking and sex crimes trial in open court. Batohi has revealed in Parliament that in an unprecedented move, Judge Irma Schoeman has asked the State to make oral arguments in its appeal seeking clarity on the factual findings of the judgement. The Nigerian pastor was acquitted in April after nearly eight years in court, leaving the country shortly afterwards. Batohi has told Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on Wednesday that while the case had been a setback in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) cases, all is not yet lost. Batohi has been facing increasing pressure to step down following the acquittal of Omotoso, and the court's criticism of the conduct of prosecutors in the case. The NPA launched an appeal in May and Batohi has on Wednesday told Parliament that there's been movement in the case. 'Quite unusually, the judge has now asked that we actually argue this matter in court, which has never been done before.' Batohi said only once the factual findings have been clarified, will the NPA be able to take the next step to outline the legal basis for its appeal. 'I would urge that we wait until the appeal to then decide whether the prosecutors in fact botched the matter.' Batohi said a prosecutor involved in the Omotoso case was subsequently removed from another high-profile matter involving Fort Hare University. Batohi said the Omotoso acquittal has overshadowed all the good work the NPA has done to achieve convictions in sexual crime cases.
The Citizen
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
Batohi not worried about Omotoso's deportation as NPA plans to bring Gupta brothers back to SA
She expressed hope that the Nigerian pastor could be returned to South Africa if the NPA's appeal is successful. National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi says the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is committed to bringing back Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso and the Gupta brothers to face justice. Batohi appeared before Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday, where she faced tough questions about the NPA's performance in handling high-profile corruption and criminal cases. ALSO READ: 'There is no state capture in NPA': Ramaphosa to meet Batohi after infiltration claims The failure of the South African government to secure the extradition of Atul and Rajesh Gupta from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continues to cast a shadow over the NPA's efforts to prosecute state capture cases. The NPA has also recently come under intense public scrutiny following the acquittal of Omotoso and his two co-accused in a rape trial that spanned eight years. Gupta brothers' extradition During the meeting, Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) head Andrea Johnson rejected any suggestion that the South African government had mishandled previous efforts to bring the Gupta brothers back to the country to face several charges. She explained that the government has yet to receive a response from the UAE clarifying the reasons for the extradition request being denied. 'When the UAE decided not to extradite the Guptas, we wrote to them; 12 note verbales later, we still don't have any response from the UAE about why the extradition failed. Safe to say that they have asked us to resubmit,' Johnson said. READ MORE: A national embarrassment? 'Scorpions 2.0' bill pitched to save failing NPA 'How do you resubmit when you've submitted a full set of papers that have been properly checked, even by themselves?' 'It does put you in somewhat of a predicament – do you send these papers so that they are a so-called 'failed attempt' again?' Johnson confirmed that a new extradition request would be submitted for the Gupta brothers to the UAE. 'We've taken a decision to submit new applications with additional matters. The country also can't wait while the NPA has to follow legal processes.' 'So, having taken that into account, the public interest, and the interest of justice, we'll submit new applications not just on the Estina and Nulane matters. We're going to apply for extraditions in relation to other state capture matters.' Watch the meeting below: The Gupta brothers, who were arrested in Dubai in 2022, stand accused of playing a central role in state capture during former president Jacob Zuma's tenure. One of the key cases in which they are implicated is the Nulane Investment fraud case and Vrede Dairy Farm matter. Batohi explains NPA's appeal on Omotoso Later in the meeting, Batohi told the committee that while the NPA is appealing Omotoso's acquittal, the process could take years. She also downplayed public concern following Omotoso's deportation last month. The NDPP explained that if the televangelist had remained in South Africa as a free man, it could have further distressed his victims, who have already expressed their disappointment with the outcome of the trial. 'The fact that he has had to flee from South Africa means he has not been able to live his life the way that he would like to.' READ MORE: Batohi explains why NPA did not investigate prosecutors in 2021 Omotoso trial Batohi expressed hope that Omotoso could be returned to face justice if the appeal is successful. 'Nigeria is a country that we do have an extradition treaty with, and they are also multi-lateral treaties that we can draw on to hopefully bring him back when we do.' 'We have been successful with many extradition applications across the world. The UAE is the one that sticks out, and we have had challenges with that.' She added that the NPA would await the outcome of the appeal process. Batohi defended the institution, urging the public 'not to lose faith' in the country's prosecutorial system amid growing criticism of the NPA's handling of high-profile cases – the corruption case involving former Cabinet minister Zizi Kodwa.
Eyewitness News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
ActionSA slams NPA for failing to successfully prosecute those implicated in state capture
CAPE TOWN - With this week marking three years since former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo handed over the last chapters of the state capture commission of inquiry report to the president, ActionSA has slammed the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for failing to successfully prosecute those implicated. NPA head Shamila Batohi is under pressure from opposition parties to quit the job over botched state capture cases and extradition matters. Batohi will be before Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on Wednesday to provide a status update of corruption prosecutions. ALSO READ: • Batohi adamant she won't resign despite repeated calls for her head by opposition parties • Ramaphosa announces meeting with NPA boss to clear the air about perceived knots Meanwhile, ActionSA said it was planning to stage a protest in Pretoria on Thursday to call for her removal. ActionSA's parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, said that the irregular handling of an extradition linked to the asbestos corruption case in the Free State was not an isolated blunder but a pattern. "There is supposed to be a war against corruption in this country. Nobody has seen one shot fired and the blame must be laid at the door of the NPA and the national director of public prosecutions." He said his party would not be intimidated by former executives implicated in the state capture project who now served in the parliamentary benches as MPs of the MK Party. "They're defending themselves rather than being an effective opposition. They defend themselves in portfolio committees on matters under serious discussion. We are not going to be threatened by gangsters in this Parliament." The party said it would be introducing a zero tolerance corruption bill later this year to plug the gaps in enforcement and deterrence in the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.
