South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced advocate Shamila Batohi as the new head of National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Tuesday.
At the International Criminal Court, Batohi has been a senior legal adviser to the prosecutor since 2009.
Ms. Batohi will now start her new role in February 2019as country’s first female NPA boss.
Shamila, who will replace Shaun Abrahams, the former prosecutor, was appointed as the first woman DPP when she took up the job in KwaZulu-Natal in 2009.
Ramaphosa, while congratulating Batohi on her appointment, said, “I am addressing the state of dysfunctionality and deficiencies in the NDPP that had been identified by the Constitutional Court.”
Batohi will take over the high-profile cases which include 16 charges of corruption, money laundering, racketeering and fraud set up against ex-president Jacob Zuma.
“The President, and by proxy the people (of South Africa) have bestowed a lot of confidence in me,” told Batohi.
She added that the least she could do was reciprocate that confidence.
“My only obligation is to serve the country with humility and dedication to the best of my ability. Each one of us, no matter where we are, must be ready to sacrifice the necessary, to fight the good fight. Our country needs us,” added up Ms. Batohi.
-Harleen Sandhu
