Warm welcome to new NDPP from parties and organisations

Law Society commends president for transparent and inclusive process

Law Society welcomes appointment of Adv Shamila Batohi as National Director of Public Prosecutions 

4 December 2018

The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) welcomes the appointment of Adv Shamila Batohi as National Director of Public Prosecutions. ‘We are confident that Ms Batohi has the skill, conscientiousness, integrity and independence necessary to tackle the challenge of leading our prosecutorial services, and to ensure a stable directorate that serves the public of South Africa professionally, effectively and fairly, and provides a proud mirror of our criminal justice system to the outside world. We offer the support of the attorneys’ profession to Ms Batohi,’ say LSSA Co-Chairpersons Ettienne Barnard and Mvuzo Notyesi.

We wish again to commend President Cyril Ramaphosa for the transparent and inclusive process which he set out for the applications, nominations, shortlisting and interviews. The profession, and the public in general, were able to follow the rigorous and robust interviews, and form opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

We also wish to thank Minister Jeff Radebe, who chaired the advisory panel, and all the panel members for their service, especially Richard Scott who represented the LSSA on the panel.

Issued by Barbara Whittle on behalf of Law Society of South Africa, 4 December 2018  

IFP welcomes Adv Shamila Batohi as new NDPP

The IFP welcomes today’s announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa in appointing Advocate Shamila Batohi as the new National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). 

Advocate Batohi demonstrates experience and maturity as she is a seasoned prosecutor and has served in the positions of former director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal and senior legal adviser to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court since 2009.

She has further demonstrated her work as she led the prosecution of Protea’s captain Hansie Cronje at the King Commission.

The NDPP position has in recent years been captured by the Executive to serve in its interests. 

We further welcome the unprecedented level of transparency in the appointment process, with shortlisted candidates’ interviews being televised.

The IFP wishes Adv Batohi well in her new role as NDPP and it is our hope that she will serve her time in office with the highest levels of integrity and restore trust in the National Prosecuting Authority.

Issued by Inkosi Buthelezi, Spokesperson, IFP, 4 December 2018

FW de Klerk Foundation welcomes appointment of new NDPP

The FW de Klerk Foundation welcomes the announcement by President Ramaphosa of Advocate Shamila Batohi as the new National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). Advocate Batohi is well qualified and experienced to fulfil this significant role. This, at a time when the country is at a critical crossroads and the justice system cries out for an independent and fair-minded individual to fulfil the mandate of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). In line with section 179 of the Constitution, we trust that she will pursue her mandate without “fear, favour or prejudice”. Advocate Batohi has experience as a former Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal and has gained international exposure in her role as the Senior Legal Advisor to the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC). This latter experience we believe will be important, as it gives her the necessary distance and objectivity from matters facing prosecution.

We wish her well during her tenure, which commences in February 2019. We trust that Advocate Batohi will instil in the whole NPA the determination and courage to prosecute those who have shown themselves to act contrary to the Constitution and the Law. South Africa desperately needs this.

Issued by Megan Dick, Communications Marketing Manager, FW de Klerk Foundation, 4 December 2018

POPCRU welcomes the appointment of Adv. Shamila Batohi as the new NDPP Head

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) welcomes the appointment of Advocate Shamila Batohi as the new National Directorate of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) head.

We are optimistic that this time around, the transparent processes that went into the held interviews of candidates resulted in an outcome that will see an impartial, disciplined and hardworking NDPP head.

For the past decade or so, there have been deliberate, malicious evisceration of the country’s law enforcement agencies that has seen many being pushed out while those at the helm defining their ill-gotten trajectory that has created chaos within the criminal justice cluster.

Claims of political interference at the state institutions have been probable, considering their leadership record and leadership woes, and it was clear that until leadership issues are fixed, the NDPP would remain dysfunctional.

The task that lies ahead for the new NDPP head is near insurmountable as there needs to urgently be a change in public perception because the country’s capability to fight organised crime has been decimated by years of political infighting, factionalism and blatant corruption.

POPCRU remains committed with all its might to see corruption being eradicated.

Issued by Richard Mamabolo, Spokesperson, POPCRU, 4 December 2018