AfriForum warns: NPA is not going to be straightened out with this amendment bill

22 January 2024  

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Amendment Bill is like a dog without teeth and does not contain nearly enough measures to tackle the current problems at the NPA. This is the opinion of the civil rights organisation AfriForum, which submitted its written comments on this bill today. The NPA bill is currently before the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

AfriForum pointed out several obvious shortcomings in the bill in its written comments before the National Assembly (NA) approved the bill with a few amendments on 5 December last year. The amendments, however, did not address the substantive problems of the bill.

In addition to the lack of sufficient measures to deal with the NPA’s problems, there are also several other unacceptable aspects of the bill, according to Louis Boshoff, Campaign Officer at AfriForum. This includes, among other things, the failure to prescribe parliamentary oversight, which increases the risk of political interference in the NPA. AfriForum further argues that the acceptance of the bill in its current form is likely to lead to a serious drop in confidence in the South African criminal justice system.

AfriForum’s comments approach the matter proactively and propose various solutions for the above aspects. It also makes suggestions regarding the improvement of the NPA’s operational efficiency.

“If the NPA does not function as it should, criminals will not be prosecuted. Period. AfriForum will not simply look on when poor-quality legislation is implemented to regulate such an important entity,” says Boshoff.

Meanwhile, AfriForum is further expanding its own private prosecution unit to ensure that prosecutions can continue even if the NPA weakens further.

Issued by Louis Boshoff, Campaign Officer, AfriForum, 22 January 2024