By Simon Nare
Former North West Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Sello Maema, told the Nkabinde Inquiry that he was threatened with fraud charges by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after it emerged he would be called as a witness in the inquiry. The charges related to the Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit.
Maema said that during the December 2025 testimony of former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Shamila Batohi, he received an early-morning call while jogging from an NPA investigator and prosecutor.
They informed him they intended to subpoena him to appear in court on fraud charges.
“I was taken aback. How could I be served a subpoena when no statement had been taken from me, and my side of the story had not been considered before deciding to charge me?” Maema said.
Maema, the first witness called by South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Andrew Chauke—whose
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