NPA boss Advocate Shamila Batohi is in hot water for usurping powers reserved for the justice minister by appointing an interim director of public prosecutions (DPP) in Johannesburg to stand in for suspended Advocate Andrew Chauke.
This after Batohi shocked prosecutors in the Joburg division of the NPA on Wednesday when she announced Riegal du Toit as interim DPP to run the show in the absence of Chauke.
But Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi confirmed that she had not appointed a DPP as empowered by the law.
Seeing the blunder, Batohi, through NPA national spokesperson Advocate Mthunzi Mhaga, sought to spin the situation, saying Du Toit was not acting but an “interim arrangement” to avoid a vacuum of leadership.
“An acting DPP for South Gauteng Division has not been appointed, but an interim arrangement has been made for Adv Riegal Du Toit, the most senior deputy in the South Gauteng Division, to manage processes to ensure business continuity while waiting for an acting DPP to be appointed.
“On Wednesday 23 July, the NDPP met with management and staff at the DPP offices in Johannesburg and initiated a process inviting colleagues to express interest in acting as DPP, or to nominate a person to act as DPP.”
Called for comment, Kubayi was shocked that there is an acting person in place of Chauke.
“We have not appointed anyone to act as DPP in Johannesburg. I am the one who recommends, and I have not. If there is anyone who is appointed, then they are illegal because the minister must sign off, and I was not consulted.”
Mhaga confirmed that Batohi will only discuss the situation with Kubayi next week.
The illegal appointment has sparked racial tensions in the office, with black deputy DPPs feeling overlooked. Du Toit is one of 10 Chauke’s deputies, of which seven are black and three white.
Black prosecutors have sounded the alarm for what they term the reversal of the transformation gains, especially considering that the Pretoria division of the NPA is also led by a white person.
Mhaga was insistent there was no acting DPP in Johannesburg but could not explain the difference between “acting” and “interim arrangement”.
The powers-that-be at DOJ had warned that the prosecutors in Joburg must focus on redeeming the ruined image of the criminal justice system following the explosive press conference by KZN police provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who fingered Joburg prosecution for being captured.
“There are a number of people that should have been arrested in Gauteng that are not arrested because the prosecutions do not want to sign off the warrants of arrest for those people,” said Mkhwanazi three weeks ago.
“We hope that pretty soon, we might find some changes with good and dedicated prosecutors and see arrests happening, and this incident that involves artists in this country who were killed is going to come to the fore.”
Mhaga said prosecutors must desist from spreading false information.
“We caution against mischief makers, driven by nefarious agendas, leaking false and divisive information to the media. At a particularly challenging time in the criminal justice system, as dedicated professionals, we need to ensure that the work continues and that we focus on serving the people.”
