NPA must get its act together

THE National Prosecuting Authority has done it again by failing to prosecute in another high-profile case. This time, the Shaun Abrahams-led NPA withdrew fraud and corruption charges against convicted fraudster and disgraced former Buffalo City Metro mayor Zukiswa Faku and four others who were accused of defrauding BCM of R15.6-million in 2009.

While the state wanted to pursue charges against the four other accused, an annoyed magistrate Anne-Marie Aucamp withdrew the charges because of the state’s ill-preparedness. The case had been postponed several times already and Aucamp rightfully struck the matter off the roll as the state clearly failed to prosecute. This has left egg on the face of the NPA.

This is yet another loss for the troubled state entity, which was dealt a blow when it had to return assets seized from the Gupta family. Again the NPA had failed to present a strong and compelling case in the Estina Dairy Project matter. And now, the NPA has gone against the business family’s assets in Dubai as it again attempts to bring down the alleged chief architects of state capture.

If recent developments are anything to go by, the likelihood is that the Guptas will once again teach the NPA a legal lesson.

But the NPA is confident it will win this round as it goes toe-to-toe with former President Jacob Zuma’s friends. All of these losses are not doing the prosecuting authority any favours as citizens are losing confidence in it. Yes, it is not legally possible to win every single case, but losing almost every high-profile one does not bode well. In actual fact, the NPA has dismally failed to carry out its mandate under Shaun the sheep.

Under his leadership it has become a toothless dog embroiled in political battles.

This has to change. But for the NPA to be completely transformed and be the effective prosecuting authority that it should be and was meant to be, wholesale changes must be made – starting at the top. It can no longer be business as usual while the NPA continues to lose high-profile cases. The rate at which the NPA appears to be losing cases must be demoralising for the police and other law enforcement agencies.

Arresting alleged criminals only for the NPA to squander the trials by not properly preparing for the cases defeats the whole purpose of cracking down on lawlessness.

Failing to prosecute suspects after embarrassing them by dragging them to court on sometimes unfounded and fictitious allegations also has serious ramifications for each and every taxpayer, as it opens the government up for lawsuits.

This is something that we can ill afford. The NPA needs to shape up if we are to win the fight against crime.

Perhaps President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has promised that his administration will leave no stone unturned in its endeavours to fight crime, must intervene at the NPA by first getting rid of the compromised Abrahams. Failure to do that might undermine the efforts being made to ensure that every citizen, rich and poor, is equal before the law, as it was intended in our hailed constitution. South Africans want to have a reliable NPA.