What would be the measure of success of the new National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi? Would it be the ability to blast off her term by marching high-profile crooks into the dock? Would it be the ability of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to put the perpetrators of state capture, particularly members of the Gupta family and their cohorts, behind bars? Would it be bringing former president Jacob Zuma’s corruption case to a conclusion? Is it building capacity to take on massive corporate corruption and fraud cases such as Steinhoff? How about organised crime? Could the untouchables in the underworld finally be troubled and face real heat? Would arrests in the explosive VBS Mutual Bank matter show that Batohi means business and is not afraid to take on cases that result in political backlash? Or would the ultimate test be her ability to withstand the predictable political pressure that comes with the position? This is where her predecessors tripped up ...

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