New NDPP Shamila Batohi told Parliament yesterday that the NPA faced a ‘massive credibility challenge’ and was ‘seriously divided’. She also said there is not enough money to pay all of the NPA’s salaries this financial year and staff will have to be slashed if it is to remain within budget over the medium term (see report below). Addressing the National Assembly’s Justice Committee for the first times after five months in the job, Batohi told MPs of a deep-seated skills shortage, including a shortfall of more than 600 prosecutors and a cash crunch that’s leaving the authority R1.7bn short over the next three years. A Daily Maverick report quotes her as saying: ‘The NPA has a massive credibility challenge. It is publicly known why that is… One of the important issues we need to focus on is how to restore the credibility. I came into an organisation that, unfortunately, is seriously divided, but, I must also say, an institution of very committed prosecutors…’ Shortly after taking office in February 2019, Batohi went on public record saying she accepted the job after President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged there would be no political pressure, as the Constitution stipulated. However, opposition MPs asked whether she’d come under political pressure. ‘No, absolutely not,’ was Batohi’s response. Although the challenges were massive, confidence about the possibility of prosecutors’ contribution to turning things around was tremendous, she said. ‘It is challenging. It is terrifying – and hugely exciting.’ On the question of corruption, she warned that the newly-established Investigative Directorate under Advocate Hermione Cronjé was ‘a short-term, crisis operational intervention’, neither a panacea nor a sustainable long-term approach. With about R37m allocated to get the Investigative Directorate up and running, its requirement runs to R219m to ensure it can access the necessary legal and forensic skills.