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National Director of Public Prosecution Advocate Shamila Batohi seen during a media briefing.
Independent legal analyst Bophelo Seleke has weighed in on the National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Shamila Batohi‘s performance as a witness at the Nkabinde Inquiry.
Batohi, who has accused Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andrew Chauke of making politically motivated prosecutorial decisions, has been testifying since last month.
Following the inquiry chairperson Justice Bess Nkabinde’s tough line of questioning during the inquiry, Batohi refused to continue testifying, saying she needed to obtain proper legal counsel.
Seleke says it’s clear that Batohi did not expect the panel to grill her.
[ON AIR] What was expected to be a routine procedural day at the Nkabinde Inquiry took a dramatic turn when National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi failed to return to the hearing after lunch. Her decision to halt her testimony pending legal advice triggered… pic.twitter.com/QD4hLutLcR
— SAfmRadio 📻 (@SAfmRadio) December 16, 2025
“In the beginning of the proceedings, it was the NDPP who had approached the chair, Justice Nkabinde, requesting that she not be cross-examined, that what she was merely there to do and this is on record, was to simply relay the facts as to the complaint that had triggered this whole process. So in her heart of hearts, she had not anticipated that Ngcukaitobi would come out in a master class of cross-examination and really drill down into the nitty-gritty of what is the substance of the complaint against Andrew Chauke, which has then led to the suspension of the Gauteng DPP in July,” says Seleke.
VIDEO | Nkabinde Inquiry: Batohi under cross-examination:
