NPA candidates address internal challenges and ethical standards in leadership bid

The leadership tier of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must be stabilised, and lifestyle audits should be endorsed to ensure an ethical prosecuting organisation.

This is how two of the candidates running for the position of head of the prosecuting authority see the future of this office.

Both the current Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, Nicolette Bell, and her deputy, Advocate Adrian Mopp, on Wednesday assured Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and her panel that they are competent candidates to run the country’s prosecuting authority and to take over from the head, Advocate Shamila Batohi, when she steps down next month.

Mopp stated that if he took over, the starting point must be ensuring the independence of the office.

He pointed out that some say the NPA had been captured, but stressed that decisions taken must be underpinned by two things - the law and the facts.

“I lay awake at night worrying about the future of our country. I am concerned about the threats we face. I want to make a change,” Mopp said.

Mopp was questioned during his interview about internal turmoil within the NPA. This was sparked by Batohi, who earlier told Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee that she underestimated the internal problems at the NPA.

Mopp responded that Batohi has not always been open about what these challenges were. He explained that he, on occasion, raised the issues that the NPA was being captured with her.

In his view, he said, there were only a few who had to account for what they did. “It is critical for us to know what the problems are. Are we talking about one or two, or is it an entire organisation? Good people are tarnished by referencing the entire organisation, while it can only be individuals,” he said.

He said if he became the head of the organisation, there would be such discussions, as good people are being tarnished, while there may only be a few culprits.

Questioned on the optimal independence of the NPA, Mopp said he does not support a position that the NDPP is the accounting officer.

He told the panel that he favoured a model similar to the Chief Justice not being the accounting officer for the Judiciary, but that the chief executive officer of the Office of the Chief Justice is.

Asked about possible political interference in prosecutions, Mopp responded that no one has ever tried to influence a decision he has made.

He, as well as Bell, was questioned about the poor performance of the Western Cape in securing, especially, gender-based violence and murder prosecutions.

Both cited several reasons. Mopp said prosecutors must face consequences, such as closing a case without calling a key witness. He stressed that they must own their cases.

Bell, meanwhile, said her team in the Western Cape has reflected on the province’s poor prosecution rate, and they have put several measures in place to address these problems. According to her, things are looking up.

Speaking about the Joshlin Smith case, Bell said the matter had huge reputational consequences for her office.

She explained that not everyone in her office agreed to prosecute the accused. She had to make a decision, which was the right one in the end, she said.

Transparency and accountability to Parliament regarding the work of the NPA are also high on her list. “I am ready to serve the entire NPA. I have the experience,” she told the panel.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za