National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Advocate Shamila Batohi was publicly rebuked by Justice Bess Nkabinde, chairperson of the Nkabinde Enquiry, for what the judge described as disrespectful conduct during proceedings.
The enquiry is investigating the fitness of suspended South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Andrew Chauke, to hold office.
The confrontation occurred after Batohi failed to return to the witness stand following a lunch adjournment, during intense cross-examination by Chauke’s lawyer, Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi. When summoned back, Batohi told commissioners she would prefer to return next year to consult her legal team.
“You have been totally disrespectful to everybody,” Nkabinde told Batohi, who apologised but insisted she was “trying really to help.”
During cross-examination, Ngcukaitobi accused Batohi of providing evasive testimony, including on her knowledge of former Major General Johan Booysen facing charges beyond racketeering. He also suggested she had shifted responsibility to subordinates, including Chauke, for failing to act on a video filmed by former police reservist Aristides Danikas. The footage allegedly showed a wounded man left unattended by Booysen and members of the Cato Manor Unit.
Batohi defended her testimony, explaining that vague recollections were due to the considerable time gap of seven years since the events. She declined to comment on allegations that she was being evasive or shifting responsibility.
The exchange has raised concerns over courtroom decorum and the credibility of testimony in this high-profile probe into prosecutorial conduct in South Africa.