National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shamila Batohi told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that her agency was doing a “fantastic job” as she pushed back on calls by some MPs to resign.
Batohi and her political head, justice minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, were grilled on Tuesday by MPs of the portfolio committee on justice & constitutional development over their budgets and annual performance plans.
Calls for Batohi to resign have been made by the MK party, EFF and ActionSA.
“The question was asked whether the NPA is doing a fantastic job. The NPA is in fact doing a fantastic job,” she said. “If we look at our performance for the past four years, it has increased from 50% to 70-75%. The asset forfeiture unit in terms of freezing of recoveries, since it was set up in 2000, close to 45-48% of asset recoveries have been done in the past four years.”
Despite suffering a bruising defeat in prosecuting the rape case against Nigerian televangelist Tim Omotoso, Batohi was adamant the NPA had increased convictions on sex crimes.
“I will not be stepping down because I believe that we are doing a really good job,” she reiterated.
While there have been calls for a commission of inquiry into the NPA, Batohi said there was a need for a commission to look into the justice system as a whole. “There are huge systematic problems in the criminal justice system. There are huge challenges within the NPA, police and courts system that we need to address to get to the bottom of crime.”
During the sitting, EFF MP Mathibe Mohlala said: “Batohi has failed this country. She has failed the victims of crime and the constitution. Batohi has clung onto her position as the NPA crumbled.”
Kubayi and her deputy Andries Nel, however, defended the NPA and told MPs that while there might be concerns on how some cases were handled the institution had not “collapsed”.
Batohi’s term of office ends in January 2026.
Kubayi applauded the NPA’s work in the lower courts [magistrate’s courts] for its high conviction rate.
“You have unfortunate cases such as the Omotoso trial that did not go as we thought. I do think we could have done better, but that does not mean the institution has collapsed.”
The department’s medium-term expenditure framework detailing the three-year plan shows the NPA budget to be R6.1bn for 2025/26, R6.3bn in 2026/27 and R6.6bn in 2027/28.
There have not been significant changes in the budget for the NPA and the department said it was still reeling from a R2bn budget cut. Compensation of employees accounts for 69% [R15bn] of the department’s budget 2025/26.
MPs implored the department to prioritise dilapidating court infrastructure, the strengthening of resources to deal with mounting caseloads, digitalisation of court systems and safety equipment in court after recent murders in court precincts.
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