Batohi challenges legality of Chauke’s withdrawal of murder charges against Mdluli

By Johnathan Paoli

National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi has questioned whether suspended Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andrew Chauke acted lawfully when he abandoned murder charges against former Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli in 2012, telling the Nkabinde Inquiry that his decision did not comply with the NPA’s policies, prescripts or the standard expected of a senior prosecutor.

Testifying before the inquiry on Thursday, Batohi read sections of a 13 May 2021 letter she had sent to Chauke, demanding explanations for several controversial decisions he took as DPP, including the scrapping of the Mdluli murder case and the flawed racketeering authorisation in the Booysen/Cato Manor matter.

She said the letter sought clarity on issues that had raised “significant concern” and insisted that Chauke provide an urgent and substantive response.

At the centre of the inquiry is Chauke’s withdrawal of murder, attempted-murder, kidnapping and assault charges against