Why is the NPA made to race in a VW Beetle against Formula 1 cars?
EDITOR'S NOTE
WHY the National Prosecuting Authority keeps losing the corruption race: A VW Beetle pitted against Formula 1 race cars.
Image: Independent Media/Ron AI
The reason the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) keeps being left in the dust in the race against the crooks is that it is made to drive a VW Beetle against corrupt individuals driving Formula 1 cars.
That is how some of South Africa’s top legal minds describe the situation that keeps leading to the NPA being in the news for the wrong reasons, bungling and losing cases as has happened this week in the R255 million "asbestos case”.
“The NPA is blamed a lot for the political side of its lack of capacity. If you enter a Volkswagen Beetle in a Grand Prix race against Ferraris and McLarens and Mercedes Benzes, you cannot expect it to win. And that is in fact what is happening in the view of Paul Pretorius, who was the evidence leader in the State Capture enquiry.”
These are the words used by Accountability Now director Advocate Paul Hoffman to describe the NPA's atrocious performance over the years.
I was tempted to rest my case and forget ever seeing any “big fish” successfully prosecuted in my life time. But I refuse to give up all hope. As a member of the media community, I must continue to report, and continue hoping that there’ll be a Grand Prix win one day for the hapless NPA against the Lewis Hamiltons and Michael Schumachers of corruption and other crimes.
Hoffman invoked the analogy used by his learned colleague and namesake once to describe the ongoing shameful saga of the NPA this week during an interview on SABC channel 404 with news anchor Thembekile Mrototo.
For the uninitiated, the lovable standard Beetle can only reach about 126km/h, while Ferraris and other Formula 1 cars can reach top speeds of about 375km/h.
As a diehard Beetle and general VW fan, the interview left me feeling absolutely defeated. I felt the same way after that fake pastor from Nigeria left our NPA eating the dust a couple of weeks ago. And, then this week, a key accused in the asbestos case was told she was free to go.
My question is: why is President Cyril Ramaphosa allowing the NPA to enter these races in a Beetle if he really wants the State to win?