Public Interest SA on the Appointment of a New National Director of Public Prosecutions

Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, 31 December 2025 — As South Africans usher in the New Year, there is a shared and pressing expectation that the President of the Republic will, without undue delay, announce the appointment of a new National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) to succeed the incumbent, advocate Shamila Batohi, whose term of office concludes before the end of January.

Public Interest SA recognises the critical importance of this appointment to the integrity, stability, and effectiveness of South Africa’s criminal justice system. The office of the NDPP occupies a pivotal constitutional role in upholding the rule of law, ensuring accountability, and restoring public confidence in the prosecutorial authority.

In this regard, we note that the process undertaken by the Advisory Panel to interview and recommend suitable candidates was conducted in a manner that was transparent, thorough, and diligent. The panel’s work, though not without shortcomings, reflected a clear commitment to constitutional principles, merit-based assessment, and public accountability. As with any public and consequential process, it was inevitable that some dissatisfaction would arise, particularly from quarters with vested interests in weakening the prosecuting authority.

Public Interest SA is deeply concerned by the recent targeted, baseless attempts by certain disgruntled and discredited elements within sections of the legal fraternity to discredit the process and, by extension, some of the candidates who emerged from it. These attacks appear less motivated by genuine concern for the rule of law than by a desire to target and to have excluded fit and proper individuals — particularly those with a proven record of prosecutorial integrity, fearlessness, independence, and unwavering commitment to constitutional values — from consideration for appointment.

We caution against lending credence to narratives advanced by contemptuous actors who have long demonstrated hostility to professional integrity and prosecutorial independence and who, in some instances, have been found by the courts to have acted unlawfully.

Sadly, owing to persistent disciplinary inertia on the part of legal sector regulatory authorities, such individuals have, over time, entrenched themselves within the criminal justice ecosystem, seemingly with the objective to further undermine its effectiveness, often in pursuit of personal financial gain or the advancement of narrow political agendas.

Permitting a disgraced, delinquent lawyer to weaponise the legal system through frivolous litigation while evading oversight by regulatory authorities threatens to condone malignant conduct and unnecessarily delay the due process for appointing a new NDPP.

This strikes at the very heart of the rule of law.

Public Interest SA therefore calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to exercise his constitutional prerogative with firmness and clarity, and to disregard the noise generated by these self-interested and venal forces. The appointment of the next NDPP must be guided solely by the national interest, the recommendations of the duly constituted Advisory Panel, and the overarching need to strengthen — rather than undermine — the independence and effectiveness of the National Prosecuting Authority.

At this critical juncture, South Africa requires principled, ethical leadership in the prosecutorial sphere — leadership that will confront corruption and serious crime without fear, favour, or prejudice, and that will reaffirm the foundational promise of equality before the law.

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Issued by: Public Interest SA