Batohi clarifies comment about NPA being 'infiltrated', tells MPs she used wrong term
Shamila Batohi has been lambasted by political parties for the remark made in a televised interview, with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Wednesday again insisting that she clarify her remarks.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shamila Batohi before Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Wednesday, 18 June 2025. Picture: Zwelethemba Kostile/Parliament
CAPE TOWN - National director of public prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, has once again moved to explain her comment about the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) being "infiltrated", telling Parliament on Wednesday that she used the wrong term.
Batohi has been lambasted by political parties for the remark made in a televised interview, with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Wednesday again insisting that she clarify her remarks.
Appearing before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) to discuss the delays in prosecuting corruption cases, Batohi was also at pains to correct misperceptions that there’s been political interference in the NPA's work.
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With one billion rand spent on the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture, three years on, and the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) has less than half of the 94 cases its working on, on a criminal court roll.
But Batohi said that the setbacks in around ten matters should not overshadow the successes achieved in freezing assets, enrolling cases and securing convictions in corruption crimes.
Batohi has retracted a recent comment in which she said the NPA had been infiltrated by bad elements.
"I did make that comment and I did immediately correct it the next morning to say that it’s not infiltration, and I did say that perhaps there are people within the NPA that are not aligned to the vision of the leadership in upholding the rule of the law."
Batohi said that while she had not experienced political interference in the NPA during her six-year stint, she could not say for sure that some who worked within its ranks were not politically influenced.