• South Africa now has a new chief prosecutor and she is the first ever woman to hold the office. She goes by the name Shamila Batohi.

    President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement today following the August ruling by the South African Constitutional Court that the appointment of the previous prosecutor was null and void.

    You will recall that the highest court in the country had ruled that former South African President, Jacob Zuma abused his powers as president when he sacked chief prosecutor Mxolisi Nxasana to appoint Shaun Abrahams in 2015.

    Shamila Batohi will start her new role in February 2019. She beat 11 other competitors to the job – including the acting NDPP, Silas Ramaite.

    Shamila Batohi has pledged to restore credibility and uplift public trust in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

    “If we can ensure that the NPA has credibility and trust as far as the public is concerned, then I think we’ve come a long way,’‘ Batohi was quoted as saying during her job interview.

    During the announcement, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that Batohi had “the experience, conscientiousness and integrity” to succeed in her office.

    Who is Shamila Batohi?

    Shamila Batohi is an experienced advocate and served as a former state prosecutor from KwaZulu-Natal for the last nine years, where she worked as a legal adviser to the prosecutor in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

    She was once sent for anger management classes of which she said:

    “There was a time when staff members accused me of racism. It was public. It was in the newspaper. Nothing was actually resolved, but the mediator recommended I went on an anger management course.

    “I don’t think I had problems controlling my anger, but that was one of the recommendations. I can’t really think of anything beyond that and I didn't have a problem with staff members of any race. I treated them all fairly. It was all shocking and confusing.”

    Header Image Photo: Twitter via Official handle of South Africa Government