The Economist 14Dec2019

The EconomistDecember 14th 2019 39

1

S

o bad was corruption under Jacob

Zuma, South Africa’s president from

2009 to 2018, that people referred to it as

“state capture”. Cyril Ramaphosa, Mr

Zuma’s successor, thinks it cost the coun-

try 1trn rand ($95bn) in looted funds and

lost gdp. And that is just the tangible ex-

pense. State capture also deepened a perva-

sive sense that, 25 years after apartheid,

South Africans are dangerously short of

trust in each other and hope for the future.

The person charged with restoring

some of both is Shamila Batohi, who left

the International Criminal Court to take

charge of South Africa’s National Prosecut-

ing Authority (npa) in February. Her ap-

pointment is central to Mr Ramaphosa’s ef-

forts to clean house. “Everyone says there

is a lot on my shoulders,” says Ms Batohi.

“The people of South Africa are impatient,

understandably so.”

Few doubt her ability, but her success is

far from assured. Christopher Stone, an ex-

pert in criminal justice at Oxford Universi-

ty, says she labours under a “triple burden”.

The first is that the npa, like other anti-

crime institutions, was eviscerated during

Mr Zuma’s time in office. The crooks did

not simply loot state-owned companies

but “systematically dismantled” the orga-

nisations meant to fight crime, says Anton

du Plessis of the Institute for Security Stud-

ies, a think-tank. Heads of the npaunder

Mr Zuma face serious questions about their

integrity. Mokotedi Mpshe, the acting di-

rector when the former president took of-

fice, dropped corruption charges against

Mr Zuma (which have since been reinstat-

ed ahead of a trial due next year). Mr

Mpshe’s successor, Menzi Simelane, was

found unfit for the job by the country’s

highest court, which said his appointment

was “irrational” and “unconstitutional”.

Then came Nomgcobo Jiba, whose hus-

band’s criminal record had been expunged

by Mr Zuma. An official inquiry found in

April that Ms Jiba had lied under oath,

failed to follow court orders and compro-

mised the independence of the npa. The

verdict cited, for example, how she

dropped charges against Richard Mdluli, a

Zuma ally and intelligence official who has

since been convicted of kidnapping and as-

saulting a former lover’s husband.

Ms Jiba’s successor, Mxolisi Nxasana,

proved less convenient for Mr Zuma, and

left after a golden handshake. In 2018 the

highest court found that President Zuma

“was bent on getting rid of Mr Nxasana by

whatever means he could muster”, and de-

clared the move “constitutionally invalid”.

Such shenanigans led to an exodus of

honest lawyers. From 2015 to 2018 more

than 700 prosecutors left and were not re-

placed. Ms Batohi estimates that the npais

functioning at 70% capacity. She has wran-

gled a bigger budget to recruit good people,

and in February Mr Ramaphosa announced

a dedicated unit to investigate serious

cases of state capture.

An Augean task

This has exacerbated the second burden on

Ms Batohi. “Expectations are far greater

than what any prosecution service can rea-

sonably deliver,” notes Mr Stone. There are

potentially hundreds of cases related to

state capture, many of them fiendishly

complex. Ms Batohi is fond of telling allies:

“when you shoot at the king, make sure you

don’t miss.” In other words, she wants to

ensure cases are solid before making ar-

rests. However, she sounds confident that

arrests are coming. “If there are no [state

capture] prosecutions next year then—my

Escaping state capture

Batohi’s battle

PRETORIA

The wheels of justice are turning in South Africa at last, though too slowly

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