The newly-appointed National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Advocate Shamila Batohi, has the requisite experience and integrity required from South Africa's top prosecutor, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday.
"She started her public service as a junior prosecutor in the Chatsworth Magistrate's Court in 1986, and steadily rose through the ranks to become the director of public prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal.
"She was seconded to the investigative task unit established by President Nelson Mandela in 1995 and later served as the first regional head of the director of special prosecutions based in KwaZulu-Natal," Ramaphosa said after announcing her appointment.
"For much of the last decade, Advocate Batohi has served as a senior legal advisor to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. As the [National Prosecuting Authority] NPA Act requires, she has the experience, the consciousness and the integrity to be entrusted with the responsibility of being the next National Director of Public Prosecutions."
Batohi was one of the 11 candidates interviewed for the vacant NDPP post in November by an advisory panel led by Energy Minister Jeff Radebe in Pretoria.
Batohi will take the reins at the NPA in February, after serving her notice period at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands
African News Agency (ANA)