The director of public prosecutions in Johannesburg, Adv Andrew Chauke, has pleaded with Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to protect him from his boss, Advocate Shamila Batohi, who wants to “purge” for “poli-tical reasons”.
In a letter, seen by Sunday World, dated January 2, Chauke accuses National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) chief Batohi of allowing some members of civil society to humiliate and embarrass him in front of his colleagues.
He told the minister that Batohi must not be allowed to abuse her office for political reasons. “It is quite clear that she acts to appease and satisfy particular groupings within society,” Chauke wrote.
He added that Batohi’s plan “is simply to purge me and to hang me to dry in the court of public opinion”.
NPA spokesperson, Advocate Mthunzi Mhaga, yesterday confirmed that Batohi is aware of Chauke’s complaint but has not seen it. “The NDPP has not seen the written complaint. That said, the NDPP will not abuse the power conferred on an NDPP for any reason,” Mhaga said.
In his letter, Chauke said he had initially lodged the same complaint with former justice minister Thembi Simelane before she was redeployed to the human settlements department.
Chauke explained that his complaint against Batohi arose from humiliation and embarrassment he suffered during an NPA strategic session that was held in November last year. During the event, a member of a civic organisation made several proposals, one of which suggested that President Cyril Ramaphosa should suspend him.
“I felt humiliated, embarrassed, and subjected to the indignity of my person in front of my colleagues and the invited civil society groups.
“The NPA and, in particular, the NDPP, Advocate Batohi, did not see anything wrong about this proposal and remained silent about it,” he explained.
Chauke added that he felt Batohi “is abusing her power by bottling me into silence”.
“I am unable to counter this humiliation by media and civil society groups because of government media policy and protocols,” he said.
NPA insiders with sympathy to Chauke claim he is being hounded because he was once asked to put together a persecuting team to deal with the Cato Manor police officers case.
“He stepped on some powerful individuals’ toes by accepting that assignment, which was given to him by his then bosses,” the sympathiser said.
The other official says Chauke was “being punished” for failing to prosecute crime intelligence boss, Richard Mdluli, for murder.
“But the last stroke was his withdrawal of the case against former ANC spokesperson and member of parliament, Zizi Kodwa.”
Chauke said he could not comment on letters leaked to the media.
Mhaga couldn’t confirm or deny that Batohi has sent a memorandum to Kubayi recommending that Chauke must be suspended. “We can confirm that we have shared a memo, but we won’t comment on its contents as this is an internal matter for now,” he said.
Kubayi spokesperson, Terence Manase, promised to respond to our questions but missed our deadline.
