Outgoing NPA head Batohi blows own horn on prosecution of State capture cases

Outgoing prosecutions head Shamila Batohi said she leaves the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in a better position than when she found it.

Friday marked the end of Batohi's tenure as the National Director of Prosecutions (NDPP).

While her term had been marred by several blows, including the acquittal of Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso, Batohi insisted she had managed to prosecute key State capture-related cases during her term.

This was despite mounting frustration over persistent delays.

Batohi said while the NPA had incurred some blows in high-profile cases like the prosecution of the Gupta brothers, they had managed to bring their co-accused before courts.

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She said the inability to quickly conclude cases should not be confused with institutional weakness.

Batohi added that multiple cases were now before court or scheduled for imminent appearances.

"The ones that moved allegedly, although we do know that they were in Transnet, Eskom are in court. They will be appearing, many of them next week. And that is not a sign of weakness, but the system after that, of course, it is a sense of incredible frustration that cases do not move through the system to finality for various reasons," said Batohi.

Batohi maintained that during her term, the NPA had rebuilt sufficient capacity and integrity to win complex trials.