Private donors ready to back cash-strapped NPA

Prosecutions bosses want the government to allow the NPA to accept donations from private citizens and organisations who want to see crime and corruption efficiently prosecuted, according to a TimesLIVE report. NDPP Shamila Batohi revealed that the authority had been inundated by offers from entities, businesses and private citizens to provide financial support to the NPA, especially the newly-established investigating directorate, led by Hermione Cronje. The NPA appeared before the National Assembly's Justice Committee on Tuesday to present its strategic plans. It bemoaned budgetary constraints and the impact this had on its work, workload and human resources. ‘We have to find a way in which we could access support quickly within the prescripts – with the Public Finance Management Act, the regulatory framework and whatever Treasury guidelines there are, but at the moment we are finding it challenging to quickly access external support that has come from various different entities,’ she said. ‘For example, business wants to support; there are individuals, there are other entities that want to assist the directorate. We really have to look at how we can find a quick mechanism to be able to deal with this,’ she added.

Cronje also noted here had been offers of assistance. ‘We are in a fiscally constrained environment, so if people are offering money, it's important to look at those offers,’ she said, according to TimesLIVE. Cronje said concerns around conflicts of interest and agendas could be dealt with. Transparency would be key in the process, with Treasury and the Justice Department handling the matter instead of prosecutors. ‘We do urgently need to free up the constraints at the moment. Of course, there are many challenges in the issues, but let's not shy away from the challenges, let's address them,’ she said. The report points out that during the fifth Parliament, MPs viciously criticised former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela for accepting donations from the US Agency for International Development, saying this had the potential to compromise the independence of her office