NPA head Batohi does damage control

• Prosecutors urged to stay focused • No successful prosecutions yet as Cronje prepares to exit

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shamila Batohi was in damage control mode on Monday as she urged prosecutors to apply “razor-sharp focus” in the wake of the resignation of Hermione Cronje as head of the Investigating Directorate (ID).

“The NPA is not in a crisis and there is no widespread sabotage of the ID or any part of the NPA that is taking place,” said Batohi during a status update, at which she was joined by four national deputy directors of public prosecution and a special director.

Cronje, who did not attend the briefing, is set to leave in three months’ time. The unit is yet to have a successful prosecution since its establishment in 2019 to build corruption dockets, including those stemming from the state capture inquiry.

One of the ID’s setbacks was a high court ruling in 2020 to set aside the freezing of more than R1bn in assets of directors of Gupta-linked Regiments Capital directors accused of looting at Transnet.

Batohi was adamant that her own resignation “was not an option ” and she would persist in efforts to rebuild the NPA.

During Jacob Zuma’s presidency, which was marked by allegations of corruption and destruction of state-owned enterprises, one of the key planks of the state capture project was weakening crimefighting institutions.

The clean-up of the institutions and rebuilding the SA Revenue Service were among key early priorities for President Cyril Ramaphosa when he came to office in 2018 with a pledge to reform the economy and root out corruption.

The initial optimism that came with the appointments of Batohi and Cronje — who was appointed to a five-year term in 2019 — has since given way to frustration as prosecutions failed to materialise. Confidence could be further eroded by perceptions of divisions at the top of the organisation.

“I’m certainly hoping that we will see some movement in key cases before advocate Cronje vacates her office,” Batohi said.

Business Day understands that the ID was previously ring

fenced from association with the NPA. The positioning was reportedly intended to safeguard the ID and its work from undue interference.

Batohi said she and the ID’s leader “need to be fully aligned on overall strategy” and must agree on aspects of the unit’s work, including priorities and case-specific strategies.

“It’s a tough job in a tough environment. So it should not be a surprise to all concerned that after this period, she [Cronje] has decided to move on … it is not a sign of crisis,” she said.

The ID is divided into administration, management and four specialised clusters. The team of almost 120 people includes 17 permanently employed prosecutors. It also has seconded to it members of the Hawks, Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the state capture inquiry.

Batohi agreed the ID needs to beef up capacity to prosecute state capture corruption cases, and efforts are under way to close these gaps.

Cronje’s reported frustrations included constrained resources for the fledgling unit. Batohi admitted that “there’s a lot more work to be done”.

The ID’s primary focus, said Batohi, is state capture.

PRESSURE TO PERFORM

However, Batohi cautioned, testimony at the commission of inquiry and building a watertight case are very different tasks. She undertook to consistently press the ID to fulfil its mandate.

“In high-pressure and highstakes environments, occasional tensions or occasional disagreements are normal.

“The ID was, and remains, under considerable pressure to perform. And it’s my job as a national director to ensure that it delivers,” she said.

More than two-and-a-half years since the ID was created, its 17 graft cases are ongoing. It only recently moved into a designated “state of the art” building. The NPA has not yet finalised the specifications for appointing Cronje’s successor.

Batohi said that Cronje and national deputy director Ouma Rabaji-Rasethaba will co-operate to manage the change of guard.

Batohi said Cronje’s exit is not a consequence of friction in their interpersonal relationship.

It emerged that efforts to persuade Cronje to reconsider her resignation failed, and Batohi’s comments suggest the ID will undergo changes, including amending its strategy in pursuing cases, in the coming months.

“Rebuilding was never going to be easy and it was never going to be quick. But it’s important that South Africans know and understand this reality so that people do not lose hope in the rule of law,” said Batohi.

Business Day has learnt that disgruntled members of the ID are looking for jobs elsewhere, citing anxiety over security of tenure in the unit, which is set to run for a limited period of five years.

In losing Cronje, the ID forfeits the leader’s knowledge of almost 20 high-profile anticorruption cases, none of which has yet closed. Cronje will leave her post at the end of March, two years shy of the period for which she was appointed.

CRONJE’S REPORTED FRUSTRATIONS INCLUDED CONSTRAINED RESOURCES FOR THE FLEDGLING UNIT