Nkabinde inquiry continues with Chauke’s defence grounded in constitutionality

By Johnathan Paoli

The inquiry into the fitness of Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Andrew Chauke to hold office continued on Tuesday with a sweeping and assertive defence that sought to dismantle the allegations against him at their foundation.

In a detailed and tightly framed opening statement, Chauke’s legal team, including senior counsel Thembeka Ngcukaitobi, argued that the case before the panel is legally defective, factually incorrect, and fundamentally incompatible with the constitutional framework that governs prosecutorial decision-making in South Africa.

“If prosecutors fear that good-faith decisions will be reinterpreted years later as misconduct because others disagree with the outcome, prosecutorial independence collapses,” Ngcukaitobi said.

Chauke, a veteran prosecutor who heads the Johannesburg office of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), faces two primary allegations, both more than a decade old.

The first concerns his support for a 2012 racketeering authorisation in the Booysen matter; the second relates to his