Cape Town — The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has predicted that organised crime is set to become South Africa’s next biggest state capture crisis, which will require better investigating and prosecuting skills.
Speaking at the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday, NPA National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, said the biggest challenge police would face is finding the the kingpins behind these organised crime syndicates and said corruption was now seen across all state entities, EWN reported.
“Even when we get the prosecutions to court and people are fighting us and embarking on Stalingrad tactics, that they are doing it not from their houses in Constantia with their fancy cars and with stolen money paying for their lawyers.” Batohi said.
Batohi said police have been investigating crimes but they have not followed the money, saying that is the only way to get to these crime kingpins. She added that, while police have beefed up its crime intelligence capacity, there is still a long way to go.
National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi says the National Prosecuting Authority’s comeback story after state capture has been nothing short of remarkable. OUTA’s Stefanie Fick says the NPA lacks adequate tools to prosecute.
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— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) April 26, 2024
Accroding to Sunday World, Batohi admitted that the NPA was wrong to think it could handle state capture cases swiftly and with ease and said the NPA could have made better progress when it came to state capture.
“In so far as state capture-related cases… I thought we would have been further down the line. For everything else in the NPA, I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved. [Also proud of] how far we’ve come since the new leadership came in,” she said.
She said despite unrelenting pressure and the devastation of state capture, the NPA’s turnaround has been remarkable.
“We’ve stabilised the leadership of the NPA. [The NPA executive] are the people of the highest standards of integrity. They will do only what the Constitution and the rule of law demands. We have increased staff capacity and capability,” she said.
Open Secrets investigations head Michael Marchant says lack of recruitment and retention of skilled personnel hamstrung National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi. This year marks five years since Batohi was appointed to the position.
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— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) April 26, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
