Ramaphosa drags his feet in acting against dodgy Director of Prosecutions

5 November 2024

ActionSA has written to President Ramaphosa, requesting that he furnish us with the reasons for the lack of action on NPA Director Advocate Shamila Batohi’s request, made in August last year, to suspend Johannesburg Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Andrew Chauke, who is at the centre of several botched prosecutions.

This past Friday, in a sudden about-turn, the NPA abruptly withdrew charges against former Minister and ANC MP Zizi Kodwa citing vague ‘representations’ made by the accused. Unsurprisingly, it was Johannesburg Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Andrew Chauke who made this decision, which NPA Head Advocate Shamila Batohi has since announced she would review.

Dubbed “Joburg’s king of public prosecutions”, Chauke, who has held the role since 2011, is a central figure in both questionable prosecutions and, more strikingly, the lack thereof in state capture-related cases—a record that ActionSA believes reflects a grossly inadequate pursuit of corruption cases, particularly against high-profile individuals.

Concerningly, in keeping with the President’s tendency to drag his feet, more than a year has passed since he received a request for Chauke’s suspension, a recommendation based on serious concerns about Chauke’s questionable conduct and fitness to hold office, yet today the President appears to have not lifted a finger.

ActionSA believes that the latest irrational withdrawal of charges against another high-profile individual, Zizi Kodwa, presents perhaps the clearest indication that either Chauke is unfit for his position or, as the patterns increasingly suggest, he is actively protecting those in power from accountability.

Section 12(6) of the NPA Act provides that only the President may provisionally suspend a Director of Public Prosecutions from office, pending an inquiry into their fitness to hold office. ActionSA remains deeply concerned that, despite a request made by the NPA head 14 months ago for such a suspension pending an inquiry, the President remains silent to this day.

Issued by Athol Trollip, Parliamentary Leader, ActionSA, 6 November 2024