NPA head says losing more prosecutors ‘catastrophic’ for crime prevention
The National Prosecuting Authority’s Shaun Abrahams says 78 prosecutors have been lost over the past two years
The loss of more prosecutors would be catastrophic‚ National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shaun Abrahams has said.Abrahams was briefing Parliament’s committee on justice and correctional services on Tuesday about the NPA’s annual performance plan. He said that 78 prosecutors had been lost to the magistrates’ profession over the past two years. About 70% of all magistrates’ posts were occupied by prosecutors."We cannot afford to lose any more prosecutors or it will be catastrophic for crime prevention in the country‚" he said.The committee heard that the NPA had a budget shortfall of R186m in the 2018-19 financial year‚ amounting to R435m over the medium-term expenditure framework‚ according to a statement issued by committee chairperson Mathole Motshekga.Funds for critical vacancies amounted to R67.1m. This is assigned as R29.2m for 156 aspirant prosecutors for 12 months, and R37.9m for 53 posts in the director of public prosecutions offices in Polokwane and Mpumalanga.Abrahams ...
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