National Prosecuting Authority on its 2016/17 Annual Report 04 October 2017 Chairperson: Dr C Pilane-Majake (ANC) (Acting) Share this page: Meeting Summary Adv Shaun Abrahams, Head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), noted that he had spoken to the Committee about topical cases, such as State Capture, less than a month previously and he did not want to repeat those confidences. The National Department of Public Prosecutors (NDPP) was Programme 4 of the Department of Justice. Overall, the Auditor General had expressed an Unqualified Audit Opinion on Programme 4 with one material finding on performance information reporting: There were material differences between the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) National Case Register and the Annual Report in relation to Programme 4 on AFU indicators. The register had been reviewed in line with the Auditor General’s findings and adjustments were made to the Annual Report. Audit action plans were in place. 88% of targets set by the NPA were achieved in 2016/17. Ensuring that trial ready cases proceeded timeously was the primary challenge for the Criminal Justice System. The placing of too few cases on the court roll for trial resulted in an inability to utilise court hours optimally. The Compensation of Employees ratio to Goods and Services was 85:15 as the government cost reduction project had had a severe impact on the NPA and had resulted in a decline of 404 in the number of prosecutors. Skills development programmes were also scaled down. The Serious Economic Crimes Unit was important in the fight against the scourge of corruption. It had been a month since the NPA presentation on the eight-legged investigation into corruption and the DA wondered whether there had been any progress. The DA asked when the appeal hearings of the two Directors on special leave, Adv Jiba and Adv Mrwebi, would be set down in the Supreme Court of Appeal. It added that two years earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered the reinstatement of Richard Mdluli. The DA wanted to know if that case had been re-enrolled and, if not, why not. The discrepancy in figures in the Victims of Crime Survey 2017 by Statistics SA was an issue as was the fact that of 1 468 278 crime incidents experienced by households in the 2016/17, the courts managed 301 366 convictions. Court hours had decreased to three hours and 13 minutes, which was considered really
National Prosecuting Authority on its 2016/17 Annual Report 04 October 2017 Chairperson: Dr C Pilane-Majake (ANC) (Acting) Share this page: Meeting Summary Adv Shaun Abrahams, Head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), noted that he had spoken to the Committee about topical cases, such as State Capture, less than a month previously and he did not want to repeat those confidences. The National Department of Public Prosecutors (NDPP) was Programme 4 of the Department of Justice. Overall, the Auditor General had expressed an Unqualified Audit Opinion on Programme 4 with one material finding on performance information reporting: There were material differences between the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) National Case Register and the Annual Report in relation to Programme 4 on AFU indicators. The register had been reviewed in line with the Auditor General’s findings and adjustments were made to the Annual Report. Audit action plans were in place. 88% of targets set by the NPA were achieved in 2016/17. Ensuring that trial ready cases proceeded timeously was the primary challenge for the Criminal Justice System. The placing of too few cases on the court roll for trial resulted in an inability to utilise court hours optimally. The Compensation of Employees ratio to Goods and Services was 85:15 as the government cost reduction project had had a severe impact on the NPA and had resulted in a decline of 404 in the number of prosecutors. Skills development programmes were also scaled down. The Serious Economic Crimes Unit was important in the fight against the scourge of corruption. It had been a month since the NPA presentation on the eight-legged investigation into corruption and the DA wondered whether there had been any progress. The DA asked when the appeal hearings of the two Directors on special leave, Adv Jiba and Adv Mrwebi, would be set down in the Supreme Court of Appeal. It added that two years earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered the reinstatement of Richard Mdluli. The DA wanted to know if that case had been re-enrolled and, if not, why not. The discrepancy in figures in the Victims of Crime Survey 2017 by Statistics SA was an issue as was the fact that of 1 468 278 crime incidents experienced by households in the 2016/17, the courts managed 301 366 convictions. Court hours had decreased to three hours and 13 minutes, which was considered really