The boss of the elite Hawks investigating unit, Godfrey Lebeya, has painted a dire picture of its resourcing constraints, saying the unit is operating at less than 50% capacity, which may impede its ability to tackle the myriad cases before it.
The Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI), as the Hawks is formally known, is responsible for probing high-priority crimes — including the multibillion-rand fraud at Steinhoff, once Europe’s second-biggest furniture retailer — to enable the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to institute criminal prosecutions.
Despite Lebeya and other law enforcement agencies labelling the biggest case of corporate fraud in SA a high priority, it has dragged on since "accounting irregularities" were first revealed in late 2017. There is no sign of any prosecution of former CEO Markus Jooste and other former executives accused by PwC of masterminding R106bn in false or fictitious deals.
Lebeya addressed parliament’s portfolio committee on justice and correctional services on a joint report by the Hawks, the NPA and the Special Investigating Unit on Tuesday that dealt with updates relating to continuing corruption investigations.
When probed by DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach about the capacity constraints in law enforcement agencies, Lebeya told the committee that while the Hawks were getting 103 new personnel members, this was just an interim measure and the organisation was operating on about 47% of capacity.
His comments come as South Africans, after the initial optimism that accompanied President Cyril Ramaphosa’s rise to high office and the appointment of new leaders to the NPA, are increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of investigations and prosecutions. Their dismay has been growing as the Zondo commission hears allegations of industrial-scale corruption during the nine-year presidency of Jacob Zuma.
Breaking down the numbers, Lebeya said the DPCI had a case load of about 21,000 cases and fewer than 2,000 investigators. He said more than 20 investigators were dealing with the case of VBS Mutual Bank, from which more than R2bn was looted before it collapsed and was placed into curatorship by the Reserve Bank in 2018.
National director of public prosecutions Shamila Batohi said while the agency would never have enough resources, it had done a lot of work to ensure that prioritised cases had the necessary resources.
Touching specifically on the capacity constraints at the Hawks, Batohi emphasised that the NPA and the Hawks were "joined by the hip", saying the "capacitation of DPCI is critical for us to win the battle against corruption".
In terms of the NPA, she said, major changes had been made to its strategic approach and the focus was now exclusively on justice and accountability.
"The focus is not on protecting people. The focus is on holding people — those most responsible — accountable for what has happened in our country," the NPA head said.
This was a "hugely" important fundamental shift in the NPA. Batohi said there were challenges on an operational level but the agency was working hard to enhance the various methodologies at its disposal.
Prioritisation of cases was important and there were at least sufficient resources and impetus for these, she said.
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