Lawyers warn of NPA collapse under outgoing Shamila Batohi

OUTGOING National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) advocate Shamila Batohi has come under fierce criticism from the Black Lawyers Association, which accuses her of presiding over the “moral decay” of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). 

In a scathing statement, BLA president Nkosana Mvundlela said Batohi failed to provide direction on TRC cases, neglecting to assemble teams to tackle state capture prosecutions, and ignoring a victim-centred approach. 

The organisation said her tenure was responsible for deepened public mistrust in law enforcement.  

Batohi, who is set to vacate her office by the end of next month, took the hot seat in February 2019, stepping into the “long shadow of state capture”, a period she has noted was marked by profound institutional decay, erosion of public trust, and a deeply compromised criminal justice system.

Her testimony at the Madlanga Commission “leaves so much to be desired”, said BLA. 

Batoyi recently abandoned being cross examined by lawyers representing suspended Gauteng prosecutions boss Andre Chauke, against whom Batohi had filed a complaint with the office of the president calling on him to investigate Chauke’s fitness to hold office. 

“She confirmed receiving classified intelligence about attempts to compromise prosecutors and certain cases, as well as information regarding a potentially corrupt prosecutor, which she referred to the IDAC. Adv Batohi also briefed the committee on the NPA’s internal integrity structures, noting that between 2019 and 2024, the Office for Ethics and Accountability handled 58 complaints of corruption and misconduct, several of which led to dismissals and criminal charges,” the committee said. 

The BLA said when Batohi was appointed she brought much needed hope however, “she got into the NPA and the wheels came off,”. 

“The leadership of the NPA is in tatters. The outgoing NDPP is meddled in a process she professes not to understand. Her testimony in the commission leaves so much to be desired. She is clutching at straws, seems to be conceding to mismanagement of information and failing to take responsibility for the decisions by law she ought to make. How on earth could we have not seen this coming as the legal profession. The NPA seems to have continued to be divided, inconsistent in its operations, indecisive (and) polarised.”  

The BLA noted that the courts were under threat and called for an inquiry into the functioning of the NPA as a whole. 

"The rot in the NPA requires urgent attention. We call for a full inquiry into the functioning of the NPA as a whole. We are mindful of the saying that a "fish rot from the head". But the situation now shows that the head no longer exists and as such, the body itself is decaying fast.”

Approached for comment, the office of the NDPP referred the Cape Times to the  2024/25 annual report. 

There Batohi said she took office with a clear mandate, “to restore integrity, independence and professionalism to the NPA, and to ensure that justice is not only done but is seen to be done”. 

“The most pressing challenge upon taking office was addressing the scourge of corruption, including cases stemming from state capture. Our most significant institutional response to this was the establishment of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) – a permanent, prosecution-led unit with criminal investigative powers. “

Batohi however conceded that not all the NPA's goals to turn the institution had been achieved.

"The reality is that rebuilding a critical institution in a complex, resource-constrained environment requires time, tenacity and political will."

Cape Times