By Simon Nare
Former North West Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Sello Maema, has told the Nkabinde Inquiry that former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Shamila Batohi, failed in her duty to act against Durban’s now-disbanded Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit, which was allegedly hired to systematically kill rival taxi association members in KwaZulu-Natal.
The unit came under intense scrutiny in December 2011 after the Sunday Times published a series of reports alleging that officers attached to Cato Manor were operating as a “hit squad.”
The newspaper retracted the articles in 2018 and published a formal apology, saying it acknowledged the stories were inaccurate, and that the journalists who wrote them were “manipulated by those with ulterior motives”.
Maema was testifying before the inquiry probing the fitness of South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Andrew Chauke, to hold office.
He said Batohi should have intervened while she was head of prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal, before leaving in 2009 to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague as a senior legal adviser.
According to Maema, had Batohi acted at the time, further killings could have been prevented.
He said the Cato Manor Unit continued targeting Maphumulo taxi operators, routinely claiming self-defence despite what he described as overwhelming evidence that the victims were killed in cold blood.
“Advocate Batohi and her staff were the people who were supposed to have ensured that the matters are dealt with appropriately,” Maema said under cross-examination by Chauke’s legal representative, Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi.
When Ngcukaitobi asked whether that amounted to a failure of duty, Maema replied in the affirmative.
He added that Advocate Simphiwe Mlotshwa, who succeeded Batohi when she left for The Hague, was also expected to act against the unit.
“So, if there is anyone who should have taken action, it would have been Advocate Batohi first and then she leaves at the end of 2009 and second it should have been Advocate Mlotshwa?” Ngcukaitobi asked.
“That is correct, Chairperson,” Maema responded.
Maema, who led the prosecution team that sought to charge members of the Cato Manor Unit with the alleged systematic killing of taxi operators — while crediting themselves with quelling taxi violence and receiving financial rewards from the police — described how members of the squad hunted down operators and killed them in cold blood.
He testified that the unit allegedly used a consistent modus operandi, tampering with crime scenes to create the impression of self-defence.
In some cases, firearms were allegedly planted on victims, only for forensic investigations to refute those claims.
Maema further testified that the unit’s then leader, former KZN Hawks head General Johan Booysen — against whom he had prepared racketeering charges that were later successfully challenged in court — failed to report the conduct of his members to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) for proper investigation.
“But this is a man who is himself involved in these atrocities, so he lacks impartiality, he lacks independence. That is why he was acting in the manner that he does,” Maema said.
He cited a case in which a taxi operator approached the court seeking protection, alleging that the unit had already killed five operators and that he had learned he was on a hit list.
Maema said he found it “utterly bizarre” that Booysen personally opposed the application.
He argued that it would have been more appropriate for officers working closely with the unit to file opposing affidavits, rather than Booysen, who was heading the province at the time.
The inquiry has previously heard testimony from a former KwaZulu-Natal Director of Public Prosecutions alleging that Batohi hounded her out of the National Prosecuting Authority for being part of the decision to prosecute Booysen.
In his evidence-in-chief, Maema also told the inquiry that Batohi treated him similarly. He alleged that she suspended him and required him to report to the office daily without performing any prosecutorial work.
Batohi walked out of her testimony midway in December 2025, stating that she wished to appoint legal representatives of her choice at state expense rather than be represented by the National Prosecuting Authority’s legal team.
She has since been granted that request and has appointed her own lawyers.
It remains unclear when she will return to conclude her testimony and face cross-examination.
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