Gauteng NPA head's axing was long overdue, say opposition parties

JOHANNESBURG - Some opposition parties have described the president’s action against Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority head Andrew Chauke as long overdue.

Yesterday (Monday), President Cyril Ramaphosa placed Chauke on suspension pending a disciplinary inquiry looking into his fitness to hold office.

This comes almost two years after the unit’s boss, Shamila Batoh, asked him to act.

In August 2023, Batohi wrote to Ramaphosa asking him to suspend Chauke for potential misconduct and handling of some cases.

The state capture report said that as Johannesburg Director of Public Prosecutions, Chauke, unduly withdrew murder and related charges against former intelligence boss, Richard Mdluli.

More recently, Chauke also oversaw the withdrawal of corruption charges against former African National Congress (ANC) national spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa.

In both cases, the NPA’s national team had to review the decisions.

ActionSA’s parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, said the decision to suspend Chauke was long overdue.

“We do agree that this is a step in the right direction, but it's only one step; it will require a lot more to fix the department of public prosecutions.”

Trollip said a far-reaching inquiry must be done on the entire public prosecution department, which he noted had let criminals walk away freely.