Parliament has to grasp the NPA nettle in a decisive way

Shamila Batohi, the outgoing head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), will leave her post in January when she reaches the compulsory retirement age and is obliged by law to stand down.

- Paul Hoffman

Relying on an informal presidential guarantee of her independence in her post, which she took up in 2018, Batohi started out bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She was full of eagerness to clean up the prosecutorial dysfunction and lack of productivity in the wake of the Jacob Zuma years, which were characterised by State Capture.

The independence Batohi expected has proved to be a chimera, elusive and unattainable. She soon discovered that State Capture extended to the NPA itself, with saboteurs of good prosecutorial work planted in every provincial office as well as at head office. Mercifully, her two deputies, Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi, were swiftly dispatched.

The process of cleansing the NPA has been slow and patchy. As Batohi has discovered, the NPA is not an independent body. It is constitutionally enjoined to operate "without fear, favour or prejudice", but these features are hallmarks of operational impartiality, not independence.