Lady Justice’s scale is a symbol of unbiased fair play in the law and shows her duty to restore balance to society.
But thanks to government budget cuts, the scales are tipping perilously in favour of injustice and legal experts have warned this will be a blow for the administration of justice in South Africa.
Three months ago, the National Treasury imposed severe austerity measures — spending cuts on all government departments after a cabinet meeting at which the executive was warned of “unprecedented challenges” posed by deteriorating public finances.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is one casualty, facing budget cuts that could further cripple its ability to combat crime — including serious financial and organised crime.
Recent events have highlighted the NPA's Investigating Directorate (ID) urgently needs to boost its capacity and acquire specialised skills to tackle complex state-capture fraud, corruption and money-laundering cases
The timing couldn’t be worse.
In February South Africa was placed on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list largely because of its inability to prosecute serious financial crimes such as money-laundering and terrorist financing. While the FATF’s legislative recommendations have largely been implemented, the NPA’s apparent failure to successfully prosecute such cases means the country may remain on the list for longer than expected.
Recent events have highlighted the NPA's Investigating Directorate (ID) urgently needs to boost its capacity and acquire specialised skills to tackle complex state-capture fraud, corruption and money-laundering cases, say legal experts.
Last month it was dealt a legal blow when the R2.2bn fraud, corruption and money-laundering case against former Eskom boss Matshela Koko; his wife Mosima, stepdaughters Koketso Aren and Thato Choma; former senior Eskom manager Hlupheka Sithole; lawyer Johannes Coetzee; former South African Local Government Association CEO Thabo Mokwena and businessman Lesetsa Mutchinya was struck off the roll.
The directorate, which is tasked with prosecuting cases stemming from the Zondo commission into state capture, admits boosting investigative capacity is “at the top of the list” of critical interventions.
It secured big guns such as Zondo evidence leaders Kate Hofmeyr and Matthew Chaskalson to help boost capacity for state-capture cases, but they are yet to appear in court in a state-capture prosecution.
ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka says it doesn’t have sufficient investigative resources, but making the ID a permanent body, which is under way, would solve some problems because the unit mainly relied on investigators seconded from other agencies such as the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit.
Acting judge Nompumelelo Gusha’s scathing criticism of the NPA in the Bloemfontein high court in February related to the case of an alleged corrupt tender in which R24m was paid to Nulane Investments, owned by Gupta associate Iqbal Sharma, to conduct a feasibility study, and which was thrown out of court, highlights the alarming ineptitude.
And let’s not forget the bungled Gupta brothers extradition from the UAE.
Now the impact of cost cutting is threatening to bring the justice system to its knees by worsening delays and straining an already overburdened court roll, as it can’t afford to give jobs to any of 344 interns after they complete their in-service training next month.
A recent NPA memo revealed the extent — “the NPA faces its unique budgeting problems in that it faces a multimillion-rand deficit in our compensation of employees (CoE) budget which will require careful management. This CoE deficit creates additional budgeting complications for the NPA during this period,” said NPA acting deputy director of corporate services Bulelwa Makeke.
Some of the interns have proposed a compromise which would allow them to extend their internship, which the NPA has accepted, but there is a catch: they are not guaranteed permanent employment when the NPA eventually gets additional funds.
The other interns, however, have declared a dispute.
Not fair to the interns and certainly an injustice to the public.
As legal expert Llewelyn Curlewis from the University of Pretoria says of the NPA crisis: “The end result will not be in the interest of the public; it will feed the sentiments of society feeling our justice system is in dire straits and has failed its citizens in an era of ever-increasing criminals running rampant.”
The NPA plays a vital role in maintaining the order of society and withholding resources to a much-needed organ of the state is a slippery slope to anarchy.
Amid escalating calls for her head, NPA boss Shamilla Batohi would have known she inherited a poisoned chalice when she accepted the job. She needs to prove justice isn’t blind and for that she needs the political will and support of government.
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