DA says NPA's failures make it necessary to introduce new anti-corruption unit
The party said it's pursuing what it calls "a bold reform package" for the NPA, which includes passing the DA's "Scorpions 2.0" bill to create an independent Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) with the power to investigate and prosecute high-level corruption.
ALSO READ: NPA shouldn't be let off hook for faltering on several cases: GL community safety committee
The party said the commission would go a long way in addressing some of the systemic challenges plaguing the NPA and will also attract much-needed prosecution skills.
The DA presented its bold plan on Friday morning after the NPA lost high-profile cases like the Vrede Dairy scandal, the Zizi Kodwa corruption case, and the Transnet corruption trial, which have all collapsed due to incompetence.
The party said even routine prosecutions were slipping through the cracks, with private groups like AfriForum succeeding where the State failed.
DA justice spokesperson, Glynnis Breytenbach, said the ACC would be free from political interference and go a long way in addressing the skills shortage.
"To fill up an Anti-Corruption Commission with competent staff would be much easier than the NPA. The ACC would not be hampered by the appointment processes that hamstring the NPA. The commission would have a different funding model, so it would be able to compete with salaries."
She's called on Parliament to support the reforms, "or continue protecting the status quo where the corrupt are able to walk away scot-free".
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In his affidavit, Ncengwa confessed that he and his fellow hitmen were hired by the former mayor of the Mzimkhulu Municipality, Mluleki Ndobe, who was also ANC's Harry Gwala Region chairperson, and other senior officials, including a municipal manager, to eliminate Magaqa. Magaqa's sin was that he was about to spill the beans on the corrupt-riddled tender to build a local memorial hall. He was executed in broad daylight at a car wash on July 13, 2017. Other councillors who were with him survived with bullet wounds. The assassins were paid a total of R620,000 and also promised a R1 million tender. The State and the defence had agreed to a jail sentence of less than life on condition that Ncengwa would soon testify against the people his affidavit implicated. Ndobe committed suicide on November 6, 2020, while the assassin, Jabulani Mdunge, who allegedly shot Magaqa with an AK-47 obtained from a crime intelligence officer, was later killed in a shootout with police. 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'When I perused the commission's report, there was an opening quotation that says, 'something is rotten in the state of Denmark'. 'That commission was clearly describing the state of KwaZulu-Natal in respect of the political killings,' said Ngcweku. He said the commission concluded that Magaqa's killing was linked to the corruption in Mzimkhulu Municipality, whose hall's construction took a long time than expected to be completed, while money had already been spent. Magaqa demanded progress in the construction and also proposed forensic investigations, and that the matter be debated at the council. 'What is common about the killing of politicians in KwaZulu-Natal is the issue of tenders and corruption within the municipalities,' said Ngcweku. He cited the killing of Sduduzo Magwaza, an ANC chairperson in Ward 102, north of Durban, as an example that, after Moerane had concluded his work, killings continued. Magwaza's murder in November 2021 was also connected to tenders. 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