Indian-origin Shamila Batohi appointed head of SAfrica's National Prosecuting Authority

Indian-origin lawyer Shamila Batohi has been appointed as the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), a statutory body that investigates high-level criminal matters in the country.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Batohi, during a nationally-televised address at the government headquarters, the Union Buildings, on Tuesday.

Batohi, who shot to fame as the evidence leader during the King Commission that probed the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga of 2000, was selected from a shortlist of 11 candidates who were interviewed for the high-profile position.

She will start her new role in February 2019.

She will replace the previous prosecutor, Shaun Abrahams who has been accused by the opposition and rights groups of shielding former president Jacob Zuma from corruption charges during his nine years in office.

 

Batohi started her public service as a junior prosecutor in the Chatsworth magistrates' court in 1986 and steadily rose through the ranks to become the Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu Natal.

She was seconded to the Investigation Task Unit established by President Nelson Mandela in 1995 and later served as the first regional head of the Directorate of Special Operations based in KwaZulu-Natal.

Batohi has worked for the past nine years as a legal adviser to the prosecutor in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Congratulating Batohi on her appointment, Ramaphosa highlighted that he was addressing the state of dysfunctionality and deficiencies in the NDPP that had been identified by the Constitutional Court.

Her predecessors in the era of Jacob Zuma's Presidency all had controversy-laden tenures.

The high-profile cases that Batohi will inherit include 16 charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering instituted against former President Jacob Zuma.

"The President, and by proxy the people (of South Africa) have bestowed a lot of confidence in me," Batohi said, adding "the least I can do is reciprocate that confidence."

"My only obligation is to serve the country with humility and dedication to the best of my ability. Each one of us, no matter where we are, must be ready to sacrifice the necessary, to fight the good fight. Our country needs us," Batohi said.