Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola
Cape Town - Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola is expected to make a decision on an inquiry or a high-level panel on why there was no priority in pursuing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases over the years.
This was revealed by NPA head Shamila Batohi when she was briefing the justice and correctional services portfolio committee on Wednesday.
In her earlier remarks at the briefing, Batohi said they would not discuss reasons why there were delays and why victims of the apartheid crimes did not receive justice.
She blamed the delays on a lack of action on the part of politicians.
However, this prompted a flurry of questions from MPs, with EFF MP Yoliswa Yako wanting to know whether there was political interference in the work of the NPA.
ANC MP Xola Nqola said she should unpack what she meant that the prosecuting body was hampered in its work.
DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach demanded to know who was responsible for the lack of progress and what the consequences were for those responsible.
In her response, Batohi said there has not been political interference at all since she took office.
However, without saying much, Batohi asked the MPs to take time to read an affidavit that was deposed by former NPA head Vusi Pikoli.
“If you read the affidavit of Vusi Pikoli, it would be clearer what kind of interference in his view NPA was subjected to at that time,” she said.
Batohi also said the judgement in one of the inquests involving apartheid-era officer Joao Rodrigues had asked the NDPP to look at political interference in the functioning of the NPA at that time.
She said she has been engaging Lamola and that she was unsure if he has taken a decision.
“I don’t want to speak for the minister because it is his decision. I am working with him. He is looking at a high-level panel or some inquiry that will be able to look at the very issue the honourable members have raised,” the NDPP said.
“Maybe, it will address the issue of understanding exactly what happened as well as possible accountability. It is to say those discussions are at an advanced stage and hopefully there will be some notification in that regard fairly soon,” Batohi said.
In December 2021, Batohi brought up the issue of lack of capacity for the delays in the prosecution of apartheid-era crimes because they required dedicated focus.
She said at the time Pikoli had deposed an affidavit that he was blocked from pursuing TRC cases by the then administration.
Batohi had noted that when the investigations were set in motion in around 2017, the state institutions had been considerably weakened.
“There was no capacity to deal with these cases that require dedicated focus ... We could not move on the TRC cases without dedicated investigative capacity. The NPA does not investigate,” she said last December.
Cape Times