GENEVIEVE QUINTAL: Empty chairs are the reason the NPA is ineffective
Three deputy directors are yet to be appointed to help Shamila Batohi do her job, and the president is hardly moving
According to finance minister Tito Mboweni’s 2020 budget, 202 government officials were convicted of corruption in the 2019/2020 financial year. With the new cash injection received last week from the Treasury, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is hoping to increase this number to 243 in 2022/2023.
That is all well and good, but who are the officials who have already been convicted, and what crimes did they commit? It is quite likely that these are officials working in the lower levels of the government, but the question on the lips of most South Africans is why we have not seen charges — never mind convictions — brought against some of the country’s more prominent politicians who we know have had their fingers in the pie. Even convictions for corruption in the private sector are low, with only 57 people being sentenced in 2019/2020...
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