Ramaphosa: Special prosecutions unit for state capture will be set up #SONA2019. Ramaphosa said a specialised unit was needed to evaluate the evidence emerging before, among others, the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture.
A special investigative directorate will be set up within the National Prosecuting Authority to deal with serious corruption and state capture, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his State of the Nation Address on Thursday.
The directorate’s task would be to prosecute where there was sufficient evidence and enable the speedy recovery of stolen public funds.
“To this end, we have agreed with the new National Director of Public Prosecutions, that there is an urgent need to establish in the office of the NDPP an investigating directorate dealing with serious corruption and associated offences, in accordance with section 7 of the NPA Act.”
Ramaphosa said he would soon promulgate a proclamation setting out the terms of work of the directorate. “In broad terms, the directorate will focus on the evidence that has emerged from the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, other commissions and disciplinary inquiries.
“It will identify priority cases to investigate and prosecute and will recover assets identified to be the proceeds of corruption.”
The announcement appears to signal a return to the days when the NPA had the investigative capacity, which was seated in the Scorpions unit that was swiftly abolished by the administration of Jacob Zuma and replaced by the Hawks, which fall under the police. The Hawks have been compromised by political meddling during Zuma’s years in office.
Ramaphosa said the new directorate would “bring together a range of investigatory and prosecutorial capacity from within government and in the private sector under an investigating director reporting to the Zondo Commission [National Director of Public Prosecutions].”
He added that in the longer term, the government aimed to strengthen the capacity of the criminal justice system to deal with corruption.
A handful of commissions are probing serious corruption involving the state in the past decade and more. In recent weeks, the Zondo commission has heard sensational evidence on how facilities management company Bosasa secured lucrative state contracts worth billions by systematically bribing senior officials.
Source: IOL News
