The National Prosecuting Authority outlines its plans to punish graft.
Vusi Adonis
Johannesburg - The National Prosecuting Authority presented its Annual Performance Plan for 2022/2023 to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Service today.
When Shamila Batohi took over as the National Director of Public Prosecutions in February 2019 she announced a five-year plan to reinvigorate the NPA.
When the plan was launched she said “State institutions, including the National Prosecuting Authority, have been weakened; there is … a loss of trust in the NPA, and the criminal justice system as a whole.”
Midway through the 5-year plan the, NPA has noted that its primary focus is getting seminal corruption cases to court, using the evidence on hand to guide the process.
The NPA also stated that it’s committed to delivering on the mandate to prosecute serious crimes in an effort to deliver justice to all, especially victims of gender-based violence.
It has been noted that the Zondo commission highlighted the extent of the damage caused by state capture to the country.
Noting how high-level corruption had torn the country apart, the NPA said it’s intensifying efforts to deal with the scourge.
In doing so, the NPA will be working closely with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Hawks, to prioritise seminal matters. After having reviewed the Zondo commission reports a clear implementation plan had been devised and will be executed in the coming months.
Collaboration with International firms to trace and recover stolen monies is also high on the agenda.
Advocate Andrea Johnson has taken over as the new head of the Investigative Directorate. The transition has been said to be swift and seamless. It has been cited that the ID had declared 82 investigations and enrolled 20 cases with 65 accused.
Additionally the ID has prioritised nine corruption matters for enrolment within the next six months.
The ID considers this as indicative of the good work it’s put in and readiness for action.
The NPA has set itself a target of 334 with regards to the number of persons to be convicted for corruption and offences related to corruption.
The organisation will also look to bolster its ranks by adding manpower in its different divisions including 700 aspirant prosecutors, 17 senior state advocates, 12 protectors and 91 investigators and prosecutors allocated to the ID.
The prosecution authority is seeking additional funding to respond to the Zondo commission reports, as well as longer-term structural changes to strengthen the NPA’s capacity as part of the criminal justice system’s response to rising crime levels.
The additional funding needed is 750 million rands per annum and R1 billion rand per annum for both the above aforementioned purposes.
In closing it’s closing statement, the entity stated: “The entire NPA knows that failure is not an option. And after three years of building, we can say the time for action has arrived. We are ready to rebuild the rule of law in our country”.
IOL