KwaZulu-Natal - ActionSA President Herman Mashaba has called on the National Director of Prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, to pursue criminal charges against those implicated in the state capture report within seven business days.
Mashaba says if Batohi fails to do so, he, as President of ActionSA and foremost as a citizen of the country, will personally lay criminal charges against those named in the report.
He says the party is specifically looking at legal mechanisms to fast track the state capture cases including the establishment of a Special Tribunal – “a body that we will set up for the exclusive purpose of identifying cases of corruption that have not been investigated and pursued”.
“I will be writing to the National Director of Prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, to take the nation into her confidence about progress being made in these cases. Some of these matters were ventilated years ago, affording the NPA the chance to act,” said Mashaba.
He said Batohi must prioritise public confidence over secrecy and announce the steps that will be taken by the NPA following the report’s publication as a matter of urgency.
He says her silence has been deafening and must end.
“I will be calling on Advocate Batohi to lay criminal charges against those implicated in the report within seven business days. If she is incapable of doing so, then I, Herman Mashaba, as President of ActionSA but first and foremost as a citizen of this country, will personally lay criminal charges against those named in the report.
“In the event that the NPA delays in the prosecution of any of the individuals named in the report, we will apply for a nolle prosequi (decline to prosecute) certificate from the State. Once we are in receipt of same, we will commence with any necessary private prosecution ourselves,” he added.
He adds that the work of the Special Tribunal proposed by ActionSA will have the sole focus of identifying cases of government corruption, seeing to the finalisation of the investigations, prosecuting, and jailing the corrupt. It will be measured in these absolute deliverables.
Mashaba said what the war on corruption needs is serious action. “Nothing short of arrests, prosecutions and jailing will give meaning to the State Capture Commission of Inquiry, and any delay in this process must be rejected by all South Africans.”