By Akani Nkuna
ActionSA and the Economic Freedom Fighters want a commission of inquiry into the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to determine the extent of internal and external infiltration.
National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi is facing mounting pressure to provide details of her claims that there is political interference in the work of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
EFF leader Julius Malema has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa asking him to set up the commission, saying that its scope must include alleged internal sabotage, external interferences, factional influences and questionable appointments.
He proposed that the inquiry be chaired by former Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and he be empowered to summon current and former NPA officials, intelligence members and other implicated in wrongdoing and corruption involving the entity.
“The mandate of the proposed commission should not be limited to procedural irregularities or administrative weaknesses. It must include a thorough institutional audit of the NPA, the examination of prosecutorial decision-making over the past decade and the identification of cases that may have been deliberately delayed mismanaged, or influenced by political considerations,” Malema said in a statement.
ActionSA Parliamentary head Athol Trollip told the SABC that his party was the first to raise the matter, however, it supported calls from other parties for the commission of inquiry.
“Last week, we wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, we wrote to the minister of justice, we wrote to the president, we asked Parliament to convene an urgent inquiry into the NPA. So, I am very pleased that Malema and the EFF agree with the steps that we are taking,” said Trollip.
Batohi said in an interview with Newzroom Afrika last week that executive members were not a barrier in efforts to make the NPA functional, however, she stated that possible infiltration by “individuals who do not uphold the rule of law” was a major challenge.
Trollip has raised concerns about a number of cases, saying that Batohi must be removed for being incompetent. They include high profile cases involving Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso and former Free State premier Ace Magashule.
“The NPA has become a refuge for the politically connected, a place where accountability is avoided, justice is delayed and prosecutions collapse with shocking irregularity. Under Shamila Batohi’s leadership, the NPA reels from one scandal to the next,” he said.
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