NPA honing its ID’s corruption fighting skills with partners
THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says its corruption-busting unit, the Investigating Directorate (ID), has spent much of the 2020-21 financial year building capacity to implement its mandate.
In its annual report tabled in Parliament, the prosecuting body said the directorate had over time developed a resourcing model that drew on the willingness of partner-agencies to support its work through secondments.
The NPA said the directorate was unable to appoint the required level of scarce skills previously identified due to protracted procurement processes. It said this posed challenges for ID’s investigating director advocate Hermoine Cronje and her ability to deliver on her mandate within her five-year term.
The directorate’s focus areas are mainly on corruption in the security sector, corruption in state-owned entities, and malfeasance by high-level private and public individuals.
NPA head Shamila Batohi said they had since prioritised bringing high-level corruption cases to court to address the endemic corruption. She highlighted that these cases were highly complex and would take time to investigate and prosecute.
“However, we remain committed to regaining the confidence of the people of South Africa and the international community, including investors, by ensuring that impunity for high-level corruption will no longer be the norm in this country,” she said.
The NPA said it was pinning its hopes on the expertise gained by the Zondo Commission over the years after an arrangement was made last year for the directorate to hire staff from the commission.
“It is anticipated that the on-boarding of digital forensic experts, with the technology utilised during the Zondo Commission, will greatly enhance the ID’s ability to pursue its mandate in a more scientific way, using data analytics and, potentially, artificial intelligence, in line with good practice.”
The report indicated there was also a need for an appropriate methodology for investigating and prosecuting complex economic crimes.
“The modern approach to dealing with complex transnational organised crimes that transcend international jurisdictions and boundaries lies in collaborative efforts that bring to bear a multiplicity of resources. Such collaboration should be aided by advancements in technology, as well as new methods for detection, investigation and prosecution in line with international lessons.”
According to the report, 32 investigations with 137 dockets were opened by March this year. The unit had also issued 154 subpoenas. Up to nine mutual co-operation requests were sent to other agencies over the past year.