BLSA CEO’s Weekly Newsletter – NDPP appointment critical to business environment, but role needs real authority to deliver justice

The next NDPP appointment is critical for business as rule of law failures impose huge transaction costs. Unlike SARS, which recovered after Nugent reforms gave its Commissioner real authority, the NDPP lacks control over senior appointments and is not the NPA’s accounting officer. The credible six-member selection panel must choose a candidate with prosecutorial experience and integrity, but structural reforms are essential to empower whoever is appointed. The Madlanga Commission on policing and next year’s FATF peer review provide complementary opportunities to strengthen the entire criminal justice system and insulate it from political interference. A critical decision looms that will affect South Africa’s business environment for the next decade. The president has appointed a committee to select the next National Director of Public Prosecutions, with six candidates now shortlisted. Current incumbent Shamila Batohi will retire next year when she reaches retirement age, after seven years rebuilding an institution that was deeply compromised by state capture. This appointment matters to business. The rule of law is essential to a functioning democracy, but it is also critical to the business environment. An unreliable criminal justice system imposes huge costs on business, not only through increased crime, but through the broader loss of […]

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