NPA head Batohi's request for uninterrupted testimony rejected at Chauke inquiry

The inquiry into suspended Johannesburg prosecutions boss, Advocate Andrew Chauke, has poured cold water on a request by Advocate Shamila Batohi regarding the hearings.

The inquiry got off to a slow start on Monday, beginning three hours late due to a meeting between the parties on how proceedings will be run.

Chauke was suspended in July after Batohi, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), lodged a complaint against him to President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

The president suspended Chauke in July, pending the inquiry into his fitness to hold office.

Once the hearings got underway on Monday, evidence leader, Advocate David Mohlamonyane, addressed a request by Batohi to testify with no breaks in between.

The inquiry’s chair, retired Justice Bess Nkabinde, responded to the request, stating that it was not for Batohi to decide the proceedings' format.

"It is not for Advocate Batohi to decide how we are going to proceed in this enquiry. When she is called to testify she will come and testify and should come to testify. What will then happen at the end of her testimony will be decided at that stage."