You’ve taken two high-profile politicians to court. Is this a sign of things to come?
This is what the NPA does. When there’s evidence to take matters to court, we take them to court.
Will you be better prepared this time?
We’re certainly making sure we are better prepared. We’ve been building our capacity and resources, and recently got the NPA Amendment Bill adopted, which is going to give us criminal investigative powers which will be the game changer in the context of prosecuting state capture corruption.
Will it make you more independent?
It will certainly make us more effective, and we remain politically independent. But a key aspect of the new law is a commitment by the executive that by January 2025 there will be a new bill put before parliament that will deal with the vital issue of the NPA’s operational and financial independence, which is what the NPA has been calling for, for a number of years.
Is this why we haven’t seen a single high-profile ANC politician prosecuted for state capture yet?
No. The NPA is completely politically independent; it does its work without political interference. These cases take long, but we’ve made significant progress. We’ve taken a number of high-profile matters to court.
Will you be readier for trial this time than when you took the likes of (former Transnet CEO) Brian Molefe and (former Eskom CEO) Matshela Koko to court?
We’ve certainly taken lessons from those cases. Some are on appeal, others are being re-enrolled. It’s an important point to make that prosecuting complex state capture grand corruption requires specialised skills. We’re working really hard to make sure that our prosecutors do have these skills, including by bringing in external counsel to support them.
Shouldn’t you have done this long ago?
Engaging with the private sector is not a simple matter. It needs to be done carefully, protecting the independence of the NPA and avoiding perceptions of interference. It has to be done in a systematic way, which we’ve done.
So your prosecutors will be more professional than in the Nulane case which was thrown out of court?
We recognise the significance of these cases and we make sure that we put our best teams on to these matters.
Would you agree you didn’t put your best team forward in the Koko corruption case which was struck from the roll?
I would not agree with that. There needs to be a little bit more interrogation into what happened in that case, which is being re-enrolled.
Is it concerning that in spite of so much compelling evidence you haven’t been able to bring a single high-profile state capture case successfully to trial?
It’s important to debunk the myth that the Zondo commission gave some blueprint to the NPA for the prosecution of state capture matters. Information in the media doesn’t amount to admissible evidence.
It references first-hand information from the Gupta leaks, doesn’t it?
Yes, and that information is hugely important in how we design our strategies around cases.
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