Corruption cases will top the agenda of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) over the next six months, Parliament has been told.
NPA head Shamila Batohi and her team updated the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on progress with referrals from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on Tuesday.
Batohi conceded that the pace of investigations was too slow but she said that most of the SIU’s referrals were still with the Hawks, who needed more human and capital resources.
NPA boss Shamila Batohi is under huge pressure to show successful prosecutions in the wake of the SIU’s report on billions of rand’s worth of COVID-19 related corruption, as well as the Zondo commission of inquiry’s state capture reports, the last of which is due soon.
“The pace of these investigations needs to be picked up, it’s too slow – I agree with you,” Batohi said.
Batohi said that most of the more than 1,000 referrals to the NPA from the SIU were sitting with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) – the Hawks.
“It’s not just about capacity in the NPA or the SIU – it’s about capacity in the DPCI. It’s a critical agency in this process,” Batohi said.
Corruption cases will be the NPA’s main focus in the coming months. Batohi said that the Investigative Directorate (ID) was dealing with five matters referred by the SIU, involving Transnet and Eskom.
-EWN
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