EDITORIAL | Safety of prosecutors cannot be an afterthought

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) announcement on Wednesday that it has withdrawn the suspension of prosecutor, advocate Mkhuseli Ntaba, and directed him to return to work is a welcome, if belated, correction.

Ntaba was the prosecutor in a high-profile extortion and money laundering case involving prominent Mpumalanga taxi operator Madoda Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni, Pretoria taxi boss Oupa Sindane and three others.

The state alleges that between 2022 and 2025, the group systematically extorted R2.3m from mining entrepreneur Thengane Thomas Ntuli, by threatening to shut down his business.

On May 18, Ntaba failed to appear for the continuation of the accused’s bail application at the Kwaggafontein magistrate’s court.

His absence prompted chief magistrate Tuletu Tonjeni to convict the prosecutor of contempt of court, issue a warrant for his arrest and strike the Sibanyoni case off the roll.

Within hours of the magistrate’s decision — and before the NPA could gather the facts — the authority publicly announced Ntaba’s suspension pending the institution of a disciplinary inquiry.

In its haste, the NPA failed to secure Ntaba’s version of what had transpired on the day, or why he was absent.

The cracks in that hasty decision appeared almost immediately. The following day, during an interview on the YouTube channel Graft Under Watch, National Director of Public Prosecutions Andy Mothibi acknowledged that the prosecutor had raised serious safety concerns.

Mothibi noted that the NPA’s Office for Ethics and Accountability (OEA) had been instructed to investigate the matter speedily.

On May 22, the NPA filed an application for leave to appeal Tonjeni’s orders, specifically the striking of the case off the roll, Ntaba’s contempt conviction and the warrant for his arrest.

The NPA was able to successfully re-enrol the case against Sibanyoni and his co-accused. The case was then transferred from Kwaggafontein to the Delmas magistrate’s court — because of safety concerns — where the accused were each granted R70,000 bail.

Vindication for the prosecutor finally arrived on Wednesday.

After considering an interim report from the OEA, Mothibi, in consultation with Mpumalanga director of public prosecutions Sonja Ntuli, directed that Ntaba’s suspension be lifted.

As the NPA prosecutes an increasing number of high-profile syndicates where the stakes are deadly, the safety of prosecutors cannot be an afterthought.

The NPA said the decision was based on a verified account of the threat to Ntaba’s safety, alongside the OEA’s finding that the prosecutor has fully cooperated with the probe and posed no risk of interfering with the outstanding investigation.

In his statement on Wednesday, Mothibi said he asked the OEA to include recommendations in its final report on how to improve security for prosecutors and other staff.

The rash decision on May 18 to suspend Ntaba without hearing his side of the story was an institutional failure.

It bears the hallmarks of an authority acting under intense public pressure, completely discarding the welfare of a prosecutor who has signed an oath to act freely, independently and without fear or favour.

As the NPA prosecutes an increasing number of high-profile syndicates where the stakes are deadly, the safety of prosecutors cannot be an afterthought.

The authority must fiercely protect its frontline staff, rather than rushing to placate public opinion before establishing the facts.