South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions Andrew Chauke was not a mere coordinator in the controversial Cato Manor racketeering prosecution.
According to National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi, Chauke played a central and substantive role.
Batohi said this on Tuesday as she testified at the Nkabinde Inquiry in Pretoria.
She said internal NPA documents, affidavits and correspondence paint a picture that is against Chauke’s public claims that he was only a liaison officer with little knowledge of the evidence or decision-making in the politically charged case against former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Johan Booysen and the so-called Cato Manor death squad.
Chauke was DPP in charge
“The documentary trail is clear,” Batohi said.
“Advocate Chauke was not simply coordinating logistics. He was the DPP in charge of the matter, intimately involved in the evidence, the prosecutorial decisions and, later, the appeal strategy.”
She told the inquiry that Chauke had personally signed a confirmatory affidavit endorsing former acting NDPP Nomgcobo Jiba’s description of him as the responsible DPP.
Batohi added that an internal NPA memoranda showed he exercised authority over the prosecution team. And also that correspondence revealed he made substantive recommendations to senior counsel on whether the state should appeal after the racketeering charges were struck off the roll.
“Taking a matter on appeal is a prosecutorial decision,” Batohi emphasised.
“His active participation in shaping that appeal goes directly to the heart of his role.”
The NDPP argued that Chauke’s attempt during earlier General Council of the Bar (GCB) disciplinary proceedings to portray himself as a peripheral figure with limited involvement was contradicted by the NPA’s own records.
Won’t be swayed
When Inquiry chairperson Justice Phineas Nkabinde pressed Batohi on whether she was correcting earlier testimony that appeared to draw a distinction between Chauke’s knowledge and his decision-making power, Batohi stood firm.
“There has been no mistake,” she replied.
“The depth of his knowledge, combined with his conduct as reflected in these documents, demonstrates direct participation in prosecutorial decisions throughout.”
The Cato Manor prosecution, instituted during the Jiba era, collapsed. It was later condemned by the courts as an abuse of process.
The Nkabinde Inquiry is investigating whether Chauke and other senior advocates involved in a series of allegedly malicious prosecutions should be struck from the roll or face other sanctions.
If the inquiry accepts Batohi’s evidence, it would deal a severe blow to Chauke’s defence that he was simply following instructions from above and had no meaningful role in the flawed case.
The inquiry continues.
Visit SW YouTube Channel for our video content
