Nkabinde Inquiry opens, probes Chauke’s fitness for office

By Johnathan Paoli

The long-awaited inquiry into the fitness of suspended Johannesburg Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) advocate Andrew Chauke officially opened in Pretoria on Monday, beginning with a forceful and wide-ranging opening address by the chief evidence leader and senior counsel Mmotse Mohlamonyane.

The inquiry, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Elizabeth Nkabinde, is expected to run for four months and will examine whether Chauke should remain in office or be removed for misconduct, incapacity, or failing to meet the constitutional standard of a fit and proper person.

But before substantive testimony could begin, proceedings were marred by a procedural dispute about how Advocate Shamila Batohi’s evidence should be heard.

Monday’s sitting started nearly three hours behind schedule after parties met privately to discuss how the hearings would be structured.

When proceedings resumed, Mohlamonyane addressed a request from Batohi that she be allowed to testify “with no breaks”, effectively