Bad Cops, Bad Lawyers
The officials at the NPA and the Hawks delaying justice for State Capture
The NPA and the Hawks are still scrambling to rebuild after almost a decade of interference and capture. Public trust in both these institutions has been deeply eroded, and despite changes in their leadership under President Cyril Ramaphosa, these agencies have yet to regain public confidence.
In the era under Jacob Zuma’s presidency, the NPA and Hawks were led by officials who created what we refer to as bottlenecks within these two institutions. These bottlenecks are the officials who stand accused of instituting charges against corruption fighters without sufficient evidence and unduly delaying important high-profile cases. In this report, Open Secrets identifies the bottlenecks in the NPA and the Hawks.
Bad Cops, Bad Lawyers — which is Part Two in a two-part series on state capture — uses evidence submitted to the Zondo Commission, NPA documents, court judgements, and investigative reports to document how the Hawks and the NPA have failed to take on state capture cases. It also recommends that true reform in these agencies will not be possible unless they hold their own to account. These agencies must reform in order to investigate, prosecute and convict state capture perpetrators. Without reform, justice for state capture crimes may never fully be achieved.
The Zondo Commission was unable to make findings or recommendations on the NPA and Hawks in its final report due to resource and time constraints. This is the missing chapter on state capture at the NPA and Hawks.
