ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba photo by Dimakatso Modipa
ActionSA leader Herman marched along with his supporters on Thursday to the offices of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development which are based in Tshwane to ventilate their dissatisfaction regarding the “poor” performance of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Shamila Batohi.
According to Mashaba, the memorandum that they handed to the Ministry of Justice is aimed at getting the department’s Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to start an investigation regarding Batohi’s performance and ultimate removal from office.
“During my tenure as mayor of Johannesburg I never got any support from Batohi regarding the prosecution of several criminal cases in that Municipality and the same thing is happening to the current mayor of the City of Tshwane Dr Nasiphi Moya who is also not getting any support from Batohi regarding the prosecution of several criminal cases in the City of Tshwane Municipality,” said Mashaba.
“If Batohi is failing prominent people like executive mayors just imagine what she is doing to ordinary South Africans,” enthused Mashaba as he in the process revealed that he established his political party ActionSA in order for South Africans to see justice.
He dismissed suggestions that the NPA’s failures should not be attributed to Batohi alone as she is not directly responsible for the prosecution of cases.
“What matters to me is that Batohi has failed us dismally and the sooner she can be out of this office the better, but we are also holding the President (Ramaphosa) accountable because if one looks at some cases one realises that judges release criminals and allow them to roam the streets due improper investigations by the police and poor presentation of cases by the NPA in court,” he said.
Regarding assertions that Batohi has minimal powers in deciding which cases to prosecute, that the Provincial Directors of Public Prosecutions are the ones directly responsible in this regard, Mashaba responded as follows:
“This is the kind of nonsense that we as South Africans must not accept because Batohi is the one who has appointed the said Provincial Directors of Public Prosecutions and like in the case of a company’s CEO, if people are not performing well under your stewardship then the buck ultimately stops with you, and Batohi must therefore not treat us South Africans like we are fools.”
Although Minister Kubayi indicated through her spokesperson that she was willing to meet Mashaba and ActionSA regarding the contents of the memorandum that they handed to her Ministry, Mashaba expressed doubt that this would happen and indicated that it would require more pressure for the Minister to meet them and accede to their demands as President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC are determined to break the rule of law in South Africa.
Parts of ActionSA’s memorandum of grievances lament the fact that the NPA is beset with deep dysfunctionality through incompetence or willful neglect and that the blunders inherent in the NPA are not isolated incidents but a disturbing and entrenched pattern.
The memorandum indicates that the NPA has become a refuge for those who are politically-connected; a place where accountability is avoided; justice is delayed and prosecutions collapse at an alarming regularity.
ActionSA’s demand to the Minister Kubayi to remove Advocate Shamila Batohi is based on Section 12 of the NPA Act.
Minister Kubayi’s Spokesperson Terence Manase accepted the memorandum and apologised for the Minister’s inability to personally come and receive the memorandum as she was engaged in a cabinet meeting.
Manase said the nitty-gritties of the envisaged meeting between ActionSA and Mashaba must be discussed soon so that the actual meeting can be held, which would result in ActionSA and the public getting a response to the questions that they deservedly must get from the Minister.
Copy of the memorandum: