Shamila Batohi's tenure: A slow-motion horror for South Africa's justice system

The cringeworthy slow-motion “movies” South Africans have been watching over the last couple of weeks, streamed and broadcast live from Parliament and from the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria continued to torture the ordinary citizens who are like the “extras” in these horror shows.

National Public Prosecutions (NPA) head Shamila Batohi was correct in likening what’s been happening with our criminal justice system and our democracy, to a movie. As she put it this week before the ad hoc committee investigating KwaZulu-Natal Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s bombshell expose, “it seems like we are watching this movie in front of us in slow motion, and those of us in power that should be doing something about it are powerless … the criminals are taking over our country”.

That movie metaphor fits perfectly. Batohi was also right about the need for solid crime intelligence to assist in the fight against organised criminals. However, she was completely wrong about those in power being powerless, herself included.

To say our country’s chief “Corruption Buster” was atrocious and downright disappointing – both during her committee testimony and through her entire tenure that comes to an end in January – would be a huge understatement. Having come in with ambitious promises five years ago seeming like a dynamite in a small package, Batohi has simply tip-toed around the glaring “challenges” she knew she had to tackle when stepping into that hot seat. When she retires soon there will still be no “big fish” changing into orange overalls.

What took the cake for me this week was when she was questioned about the Pastor Tim Omotoso “setback”, which I prefer to refer to as a complete bungle and dereliction of duty. That crooked pastor would have received several life sentences had we had a real chief prosecutor in that powerful office.

All Batohi has been doing is avoiding rocking the boat and waiting until there was a crisis she could not evade before acting, instead of using the powerful “statutory weapon” given to her by the law. Instead of asking for reports from the regional Directors of Public Prosecutions at operation level, and providing support and leadership where required, she acted powerless like the poor little extras in this horror movie – the ordinary citizens.

It's hard being a law-abiding citizen of this country and being caught in these horror movies waiting for “THE END”.