South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andrew Chauke has been suspended, with immediate effect, by President Cyril Ramaphosa, following concerns that his continued tenure would negatively affect the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

This comes almost two years after NPA director Advocate Shamila Batohi wrote to Ramaphosa to request that he suspend Chauke amid withdrawals of State capture cases and low prosecutions.

There will be an inquiry into his fitness to hold office.

The Presidency revealed that Ramaphosa had asked Chauke to provide reasons to counter his suspension, after which, Ramaphosa decided on suspension pending an inquiry.

“President Ramaphosa has informed Adv Chauke of his decision in writing and indicated that the President and the public would benefit from an independent assessment of issues that require elucidation and on which there are disputes of fact . . . President Ramaphosa is also concerned that Adv Chauke will not be able to fulfil his functions optimally while facing an inquiry,” the Presidency said.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) described Chauke’s suspension as part of the “revival” of the NPA.

DA Spokesperson on Justice and Constitutional Development Glynnis Breytenbach believes that Chauke’s tenure did not aid in crime fighting.

She said Chauke, in his role, complicated attempts by Bathoi to rescue the NPA and further blamed the African National Congress for a lack of political will to fix the fallout from the State capture era under former President Jacob Zuma.

She added that the country’s crime rate is a direct result of the decades of erosion of the country’s criminal Justice system.

“Chauke was appointed by former President Zuma to do his bidding. He protected the corrupt and delayed many prosecutions against elements of state capture. He protected murder accused former Crime Intelligence head Richard Mdluli and shielded the former president’s son Edward Zuma from being prosecuted for corruption,” Breytenbach stated.

The DA said it welcomed Ramaphosa’s suspension but argued that more needs to be done to rebuild citizen trust in the justice system, warning that crime and corruption are hindering economic growth, investment and job creation.

Meanwhile, ActionSA welcomed the announcement of Chauke’s suspension, after accusing Ramaphosa of “dragging his feet” in the matter.

“It is plain for all to see that Chauke’s conduct reflected a clear pattern that raised serious concerns about his impartiality and fitness to hold such an important prosecutorial office, concerns evidently shared by the NDPP herself. While the suspension is welcomed, ActionSA cannot reconcile the fact that President Ramaphosa dragged his feet for nearly two years on such a critical matter, only to announce his decision in the dead of night, a clear indication of willful prevarication that continues to hamper efforts to fix the already emasculated NPA,” the party stated.