Cabinet this week approved the submission of the draft NPA Amendment Bill to parliament, taking a step closer to formalising the establishment of the Investigating Directorate (ID).
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Thursday that the bill provides for the ID, which is tasked with picking up all criminal matters referred from the state capture commissions of inquiry, to become a permanent entity within the NPA.
Ntshavheni said the amended law would also strengthen the unit’s investigative powers, similar to those of the erstwhile Scorpions.
The NPA Amendment Bill will provide permanence, which would also give a good indication of the capacity actually required.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in October 2022 that the government was working towards setting up the ID as a permanent structure.
The legislation needed to be amended to improve investigative powers.
In May, National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi said work was under way with the Department of Justice to finalise necessary legislative amendments.
Batohi warned then that if the government failed to move with speed, the ID would not meet its objectives.
“The ID will not be able to do the work that we plan to do in the coming year,” Batohi said at the time.
At the time, the ID already had 122 people appointed, and a further 138 were pending.
In the Justice Department’s budget vote, the NPA received an additional budget allocation for funding and capacity in the ID.
Parliament heard that the ID had already started the process in respect of criminal investigative and forensic capacity and to improve cybersecurity skills.
The unit was also working to ensure that prosecutors had an enabling working environment.
Ntshavheni further announced that the submission to parliament of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Amendment Bill also received the green light.
“The amendments are largely to provide adequate safeguards to protect the right to privacy,” she said.
She added that these rights were buttressed by the rights of access to courts, freedom of expression in the media, and legal privilege.
The amendment would bring the law in line with the 2021 Constitutional Court judgment that found the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act of 2002 to be unconstitutional, said Ntshavheni.
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