DA's Breytenbach says continued calls for Batohi's resignation 'unfair'
The national director of public prosecutions has been under scrutiny for several months now after the NPA bungled some high-profile cases.
National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Shamila Batohi. Picture: @OCJ_RSA/X
JOHANNESBURG - Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson for justice, Glynnis Breytenbach, said that the continued calls for the resignation of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss, Shamila Batohi, were too hefty, despite recently describing Batohi's term in office as disappointing.
The national director of public prosecutions has been under scrutiny for several months now after the NPA bungled some high-profile cases.
This includes the matter against Moroadi Cholota in the asbestos case, where false information was presented to US authorities in a bid to bring Ace Magashule’s former personal assistant back to South Africa, the Timothy Omotoso sex trafficking trial and other failures in other state capture-linked cases.
While Breytenbach said that reforms were needed to clean up inefficiencies in the NPA, she said that all the blame could not be placed on Batohi's doorstep.
"I know that many people are calling for the resignation or removal of Shamila Batohi. I think that’s unfair. It’s a job that’s much bigger than one woman. She inherited a deeply damaged institution that needed to be fixed, and it was full of people that continue to undermine her, even today, like Chauke. It was really an impossible task."