Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) says it is ready to assist the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with technical skills to tackle state capture.
Last week BLSA signed a memorandum of understanding with the NPA to support the prosecution authority with the technical skills it needs to mount effective prosecutions.
“I applaud the NPA’s willingness to take bold and innovative measures to ensure it has the resources it needs to deliver convictions,” said BLSA CEO Busi Mavuso in her weekly newsletter published Monday.
“The NPA is ramping up its efforts to respond to the Zondo Commission and will need specialised skills to support complex corruption cases, such as forensic accountants and data analysts.
“While the NPA has benefited from increases in funding to support its efforts, it will take time to recruit and train for the specialist skills it needs.”
Mavuso said the private sector has good capacity in complex investigations and the legal minds to draw together evidence to support successful prosecutions.
She said these are scarce skills that the private sector can mobilise quickly, while the NPA continues to build its own capacity for the long term.
The NPA must be able to deal with cases involving complex international crime, often with complex digital evidence requiring sophisticated tools to analyse and ultimately present to court.
“Of course, it is critical that the NPA functions independently and free of undue influence,” said Mavuso.
“The MOU protects that by ensuring any requests for assistance come from the NPA.”
She said BLSA has undertaken to identify expertise to support the NPA in response to specific requests.
Service providers will report to the NPA and be subject to all of the appropriate legal requirements in doing so.
“‘At the same time we are also conscious of the need to transfer skills to NPA staff.
“The MOU allows us to mobilise the best people in the private sector to work for the NPA to investigate and build cases for successful prosecutions.
“The MOU has taken time to finalise precisely because of the importance of ensuring it meets the NPA’s high standards of independence and integrity.”
She said BLSA’s motive is clear: “We support the rule of law. We have long done so through our Business Against Crime subsidiary and will now expand these efforts to support the NPA.
“The rule of law is essential for economies to work.
“State capture systematically undermined the institutions of our criminal justice system and all stakeholders today need to be part of the effort of repairing it.”
Mavuso said Business remains committed to doing its part – ultimately we want a criminal justice system that is capable and effective in bringing to justice those who violate our laws.
“That builds trust, enabling the economy. We need contracts to be enforced, crime to be punished and property protected.”
She added: “I am excited that we have reached this juncture and look forward to working with the NPA as well as all our members to swiftly support the authority in response to its requests”.
