National director of public prosecutions Shamila Batohi. (X)
The specialised commercial crimes unit is handling the foreign currency theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm, national director of public prosecutions Shamila Batohi said on Tuesday.
“There’s nothing on my desk for consideration on this matter,” Batohi told the parliament ad hoc committee investigating corruption in the criminal justice system.
uMkhonto we Sizwe MP Vusi Shongwe had asked Batohi why Ramaphosa had not been prosecuted in relation to the US dollars that had been stolen and stashed in a couch at the farm.
Batohi responded that the specialised commercial crimes unit was investigating the matter and that the trial over the theft itself was still in court.
Shongwe said a panel headed by former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo had found prima facie evidence against Ramaphosa and that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (the Hawks) had stated that an investigative report was on Batohi’s desk.
“That is incorrect. I have never received this matter,” said Batohi.
When Shongwe pressed her on why she had not acted on the Phala Phala matter and prosecuted Ramaphosa, Batohi responded: “Because there are processes to be followed in the legal process. The [director of public prosecutions] DPP takes a decision on the matter or not, and of course, anybody is entitled to ask that the national director review this matter.”
She said she was aware of a review process on the Phala Phala case, but “to be clear, the matter is not on my desk. I have never considered this matter or the merits of this matter”.
Earlier, Batohi told the committee that her warnings about infiltration within the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were not related to allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi during a July media briefing in which he accused the entity of aiding criminal syndicates.
In a statement in June, Batohi said criminal elements had infiltrated the NPA, and an investigation was ongoing regarding a prosecutor allegedly linked to criminal cartels.
“I meant something different because you’ll recall I made my comments before he (Mkhwanazi) did. I had no idea what he was going to talk about. So they were not related,” Batohi said on Tuesday.
She said NPA policy did not allow her to name the prosecutor, and she would have to consult her senior counsel on whether she can divulge the name in closed session.
ANC MP Xola Nqola pressed Batohi on what steps the NPA had taken since Mkhwanazi’s explosive briefing, where he alleged that rogue prosecutors were helping criminal networks linked to senior police officials escape accountability.
“These processes are unfolding at the Madlanga commission as well as in the ad hoc [committee],” Batohi said, adding that she would be writing to national police commissioner Fannie Masemola to obtain the names of prosecutors implicated in Mkhwanazi’s claims.
“It’s just that we need to time it because there are these other inquiries that are going on, but it’s an urgent matter that needs attention,” she said.
Her testimony comes in the wake of allegations levelled against senior law enforcement officials, such as suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu and deputy national commissioner Shadrack Sibiya, of political interference, corruption, and the infiltration of police and prosecuting systems by organised criminal cartels.
The Madlanga Commission, running parallel to the ad hoc committee inquiry, has heard that murder accused and alleged leader of the Big Five cartel Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s private security firm allegedly received illegal contracts from municipalities and paid bribes to police officials.
Co-deputy police ministers, Cassel Mathale and Shela Boshielo, have told the ad hoc committee of a breakdown in trust between Mchunu and Masemola.
Asked whether she was aware of Mchunu’s plans to disband a KwaZulu-Natal-based task team on political killings at the centre of the issue, Batohi said she had not received any briefing.
“There’s been no meeting with the police, not that I’m aware of, certainly not at national level. The national commissioner had mentioned to me at some point that the minister had ordered the [task team] be disbanded, but that had not happened,” she said.
The task team’s disbandment in December 2024 by Mchunu has been a central focus of the inquiries, with allegations made by witnesses that the move was intended to protect drug cartels and politically connected figures in Gauteng.
On Tuesday, Batohi told MPs that despite the political turbulence surrounding the police service, the NPA had not experienced interference from the executive.
ANC MP Thokozile Sokanyile asked Batohi whether she had experienced “any undue political interference.”
“I have never experienced that, ever. And I don’t know if as a country we appreciate how important that is — that we have an executive that does not interfere in the work of the NPA,” she responded.
Batohi said while the NPA had vulnerabilities, with prosecutors open to compromise, the institution remained insulated from syndicates.
“I can’t say that I’ve noticed collusion between NPA members and crime syndicates, but what I can say is the NPA has been getting reports of compromised prosecutors who are involved in criminal activity that is under investigation,” she said.