Andrew Chauke inquiry resumes with Shamila Batohi back on the witness stand

The inquiry into Johannesburg prosecutions boss Andrew Chauke resumes on Monday morning, with National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shamila Batohi back on the witness stand.

The commission kicked off last week with Batohi as its first witness.

Batohi is the main complainant in the case against Chauke, accusing him of making politically motivated prosecutorial decisions.

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The main cases that Chauke is being probed for, is the 2012 racketeering charges against former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Johan Booysen, charges that were later withdrawn, and the decision not to charge former Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli for the 1999 murder of a man he shared a lover with.

Last week, the inquiry had only dealt with Booysen’s matter in which Batohi testified that Chauke had no business leading the prosecutions team that was investigating the matter because he is the Johannesburg prosecutions boss.

“He undermined or attempted to undermine the authority of the acting DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] of KwaZulu-Natal.”

The commission also experienced several administrative hiccups last week with the panel lead by retired Justice Bess Nkabinde pointing out the poor pagination of documents among other challenges.

Evidence leader Advocate David Mhlamonyane assured the commission that he would be ready on Monday morning.