Following a contentious and increasingly combative exchange with inquiry chair Justice Bess Nkabinde, Adv. Shamila Batohi, the head of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions, decided to withdraw from the Nkabinde inquiry on Monday, leaving the proceedings in limbo.
The inquiry was disrupted when proceedings resumed after the lunch adjournment and Batohi failed to return to the witness stand.
Suspended South Gauteng director of public prosecutions Andrew Chauke’s legal representative, Adv. Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, immediately queried her absence.
This prompted the evidence-leading team to explain that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had conveyed that Batohi wished to consult legal counsel before continuing with her testimony.
When she was later called back into the hearing, Batohi confirmed that the decision not to return had been hers alone.
“I decided, chairperson, that I was not going to come back pending getting proper legal counsel,” she said.
Batohi went on to say that because the issue pertained to her personal integrity, she had not asked the panel for permission.
Nkabinde reminded Batohi that the inquiry was established in terms of an act of parliament and flowed from Batohi’s own letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“We are not just here as a kind of court where one can say, ‘I’m not going to participate’. You wrote to the president, the president constituted this inquiry, and you came here to testify,” the chair said.
Objection to tone of questioning
Tensions escalated when the chair questioned Batohi’s decision to have her position relayed through NPA representatives rather than returning herself to explain it.
“If you could not speak to him, couldn’t you then wait and speak for yourself?” Nkabinde asked.
Batohi replied that she had instructed him to communicate on her behalf.
“So, he had no choice but simply to tell us what you wanted or what you had decided?” the chairperson pressed.
“If you put it that way, then that’s true,” Batohi conceded.
The exchange soon became fraught, with Batohi objecting to the tone of the questioning. “Chairperson, I will not be shouted at here. I am really trying to help,” she said.
Nkabinde responded sharply, accusing her of repeatedly disrespecting the inquiry. “You have been totally disrespectful to everybody here. We have been extremely patient with you, and your conduct has gone onto the record,” she said.
Batohi answered: “It’s okay, but that’s not the sense I get.” “The record will speak for itself,” the chairperson said, to which Batohi responded, “Indeed. It has spoken for itself.”
Batohi apologises
Nkabinde then accused Batohi of compounding the situation by walking out mid-testimony. “Today, you decided to be totally disrespectful to this hearing, not only to us, but to everybody present.
“That was not my intention, chairperson,” Batohi responded, before apologising for her conduct.
Batohi maintained, however, that she was still participating in the inquiry but could not continue testifying without legal advice. “I am not withdrawing; I am for now stopping my testimony, pending legal advice,” she said.
The inquiry was left in limbo, with Batohi still under cross-examination and declining to say when she would return to the witness stand.
“When I get legal advice, I will know what to do,” she said.
