Batohi exits NPA on a sour note

Outgoing national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi’s testimony at the Nkabinde inquiry has cast a shadow over her seven-year tenure and suggests she was too quick to delegate to her subordinates during her leadership of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

- Nkateko Joseph Mabasa

The NPA head stunned many people when she walked out of the inquiry investigating the fitness of South Gauteng director of public prosecutions Andrew Chauke to hold office.

Batohi, who asked for the process herself, has alleged that Chauke mishandled the case and went after former KwaZulu-Natal head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) Johan Booysen and the Cato Manor specialised police unit despite there being no evidence of racketeering and acting outside his jurisdiction.

Chauke’s counsel, advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi argued that Batohi never read the case dockets which informed the charges nor reviewed the evidence brought to her attention by a police inspector.

Batohi’s testimony highlighted how one of her central challenges during her term was her reliance on subordinates to manage prosecutorial cases, said Jean Redpath, a senior researcher at the University of the Western Cape.

Batohi testified at the inquiry that she had set up a panel to investigate the allegations against Booysen and expected her deputy to review video evidence sent to her since he was copied in the emails.

"One of the key problems for her is that she delegated much of the work to [then deputy NDPP Rodney] De Kock and he has since died," Redpath said.