Ramaphosa defends appointment of new prosecutions boss
President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended his appointment of Advocate Andy Mothibi as National Director of Public Prosecutions, despite acknowledging that the incoming NDPP will serve for only about two and a half years before reaching retirement age.
Mothibi, currently head of the Special Investigating Unit and set to assume office on 1 February 2026, was appointed after an advisory panel failed to recommend any of the six shortlisted candidates to succeed outgoing NDPP Shamila Batohi.
Ramaphosa insists that, even within a limited term, Mothibi has the experience and capacity needed to continue stabilising and strengthening the National Prosecuting Authority at a critical time for the rule of law and the fight against corruption.
“Yes, Andy Mothibi will give us two and a half years, and we appointed him knowing that very well,” Ramaphosa told journalists on the side of an ANC event on 7 January.
The President added that part of the reason Mothibi was selected was that the advisory panel did not provide him with a candidate.
“So, I needed to appoint someone whom I know can take the NPA forward. Particularly with his level of experience in the prosecutorial field, the magisterial field, the management field, and the investigative field,” he said.
“I have full confidence in his ability.”
Democratic Alliance MP Glynnis Breytenbach has slammed the appointment process for Batohi’s replacement, calling it “a rushed and botched job and a mess from the beginning.”
“The panel was inadequate, had inadequate depth, had inadequate skill sets, set up a shortlist that was doomed to fail, and then quite predictably found that no one was appointable,” she said.
“Mothibi has the required skills, but my difficulty is with his age. What the NPA needs is a long-term hand to steer it, to implement proper policies of reform, and two to three years is certainly not enough.”
“So, the effect that Mothibi has, no matter how hard he tries, is going to be very limited,” she added.
Ramaphosa applauds Batohi’s tenure
Ramaphosa also hailed Batohi’s work as NDPP, saying that she has done “excellently in transforming and repositioning the NPA”.
This follows criticism of her term, with critics arguing that criminal infiltration increased while she was NDPP and that she struggled to prosecute cases of state capture.
Ramaphosa appointed Batohi to the position in December 2018, an announcement that was well received across the political spectrum. This was the first time a woman had been appointed to the position.
However, she recently faced intense scrutiny after walking out of the Nkabinde Commission of Inquiry to seek legal advice in December, causing the probe to be adjourned until January.
The Commission is investigating allegations of misconduct against Andrew Chauke, the head of South Gauteng prosecutions.
Who is Andy Mothibi?
He completed his high school education in Zeerust, in the North West province, during the 1970s amid the height of anti-apartheid student activism.
For tertiary education, he earned a BProc law degree in 1987 from the University of the North West, formerly the University of Bophuthatswana, in Mmabatho/Mafikeng.
He began his career as a Public Prosecutor in the Magistrates’ and Regional Courts in Johannesburg, as well as the Soweto Magistrates’ Courts.
Mothibi also served on the bench as a Magistrate in the Johannesburg and Soweto Magistrates’ Courts.
He was then appointed Head of Employee Relations at the Department of Finance in 1995 and was part of a project that worked on establishing the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
In 2005, he became Head of Compliance at South African Airways (SAA). After implementing SAA’s Enterprise and Compliance Risk Management Framework, he joined Nedbank in 2007 as Senior Manager of Enterprise Risk Management.
Following five years at the company, he was appointed Head of Operational Risk Management for the Standard Bank Group.
The following year, Mothibi was appointed Executive Director at Medscheme Holding, a subsidiary of AfroCentric Health, overseeing Group Legal Services, Governance, Risk, Compliance, Internal Audit, and the Medscheme Road Accident Fund Business Unit.
In 2016, Mothibi was appointed as head of the anti-corruption body, the SIU, by the President.
The task of the head is to execute its mandate to investigate maladministration, malpractice, and corruption within state institutions and the private sector, as authorised by proclamations issued by the President.
According to the SIU, to realise this mandate, he introduced and implemented an organisational turnaround strategy that prioritised internal improvements, including enhanced performance, effective processes, efficient systems, and effective people management.
Proponents say that he transformed the agency into a highly effective anti-corruption body, achieving record financial impacts, including approximately R8 billion saved for the state in the 2023/24 financial year.
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