National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi said all the law enforcement agencies have been struggling with capacity and capability to deal with complex corruption matters, which require specialised skills.
“Even if we hire them we can’t pay the salaries these types of skills require.
For example, the NPA is part of the public service. We are limited by public service salaries,” Batohi said.
She made the statement when she led a delegation of the National prosecuting Authority (NPA), along with the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), to brief the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday on referrals made by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
She told the MPs that the NPA trained people in its Asset Forfeiture Unit and Independent Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), only to be recruited and paid three times their salaries by the SIU.
“Within government, we supply the private sector. Building capacity under those circumstances is extremely difficult.”
Batohi said there was a need to understand the serious challenges of how they dealt with matters to rebuild the prosecuting body post-state capture period. She noted that investigations and prosecutions were very slow for various reasons.
“When we have successful prosecutions, the focus is on individuals and acts. They don’t focus on institutions. They leave systemic corruption in place, allowing new crooks to come to the institutions to exploit,” she said.
“Unless there is institutional practice and culture within departments and ministries ensuring a reform agenda, without a committed and ethical leadership and good governance, we will do all we can, but we will be like mice running in little circles. We won't solve the problem.”
Earlier, DPCI’s head for serious commercial crime investigation, major-general Mmeli Makinyane said the DPCI manages substantial caseload from SIU referrals which were distributed to two components handling 11359 active dockets.
Makinyane said to ensure that each case was pursued with the necessary rigour and technical proficiency, DPCI occasionally outsources certain specialised functions.
“Outsourcing ensures that DPCI investigators have access to critical expertise when required, allowing the units to fulfil their mandates despite resource limitations.
“However, reliance on external skills also highlights the need for ongoing development and expansion of internal expertise to build the DPCI’s own capacity to handle complex, multifaceted cases in-house, a crucial factor for sustainable long-term impact,” he said.
SIUs acting national investigating officer Zodwa Xesibe said they made 3320 referrals to the NPA. Gauteng reported the highest number of referrals at 1387 from 2018 to date.
The breakdown for other provinces shows KwaZulu-Natal with 614, Eastern Cape 471, Limpopo 317, Free State 261, Western Cape 115, Mpumalanga 102, North West 42 and Northern Cape 11.
“The evidence referred by the SIU to relevant prosecuting authority is against companies, company directors and its employees, legal practitioners, officials of the state institutions from different levels and other related parties,” she said.
Makinyane told Scopa that the DPCI has 387 referrals from the SIU with 67 in court, two provisionally withdrawn at court, 105 pending a decision by the NPA and 213 under investigation. He said 23 cases were finalised from 2023. DPCI head Godfrey Lebenya said the SIU referrals were just 2% of their workload.
“Some of the cases that have just been finalised were reported in 2010 and only disposed of in court. We have a lot currently pending at court.
We have 11000 accused appearing in various courts,” Lebenya said.
The Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained 84 forfeiture orders valued at R4.7 billion, 115 freezing orders worth R12.4bn and made R3bn in recoveries.
Batohi, who noted the SIU’s referrals was a small fraction of the NPA work, acknowledged that there has been a lot of criticism about the pace of dealing with state capture and complex corruption.
“We welcome constructive criticism. It helps us to move forward.
Despite criticism, we have made considerable strides in collaboration with our partners,” she said.
Cape Times