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ActionSA has today submitted a memorandum to the Minister of Justice, demanding that the Minister, as the Cabinet member responsible for Justice and Constitutional Development, engage the President to exercise the powers afforded to him under Section 12 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act and initiate the formal process for the removal of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv. Shamila Batohi. This process must begin with her immediate suspension pending an investigation into the systemic dysfunction within the NPA.

ActionSA initiated this action as we have come to recognise that the NPA is beset by deep dysfunction, whether through incompetence or wilful neglect, that reflects not isolated blunders, but a disturbing and entrenched pattern.

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. 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 Adv. Batohi rests on the lived experiences of those who have been failed by a prosecuting body clearly incapable of fulfilling its mandate.

Advocate Shamila 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 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.

To this day, the families of the Lily Mine victims continue to await justice as the NPA drags its feet. This includes matters such as the assault case that was struck off the roll due to State delays, despite the case having been referred to the NDPP without any demonstrable action being taken.

As outlined in our detailed memorandum handed over to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development, ActionSA believes that the litany of issues affecting the NPA shows that these challenges have festered to a point of crisis. Alongside many South Africans who have expressed their views, we are clear in our belief that there is no longer confidence in the leadership of Adv. Batohi.

While acknowledging that overhauling and correcting the NPA does not begin and end with the removal of Adv. 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.

ActionSA has given the Minister of Justice 7 days to respond to our demand. We will use every lever of pressure at our disposal to ensure that the steady decline of our criminal justice system does not go unchallenged. We will not stand by while our institutions are weakened by incompetence that shields criminals and neglects law-abiding South Africans.

Issued by ActionSA President Herman Mashaba