New NPA head Mothibi claims a 74% murder conviction rate amid ambitious reform agenda

Newly installed National Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Andy Mothibi, presented the authority’s Annual Performance Plan to Parliament’s justice committee earlier this week, claiming a 74% conviction rate for murder.

Appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in February this year, Mothibi, 63, is seen as a caretaker head of the beleaguered National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), but he set out some ambitious plans to restore the reputation and overall capacity of the prosecuting authority.

The presentation was opened by Minister of Justice Mmamoloko Kubayi, who raised concern about the funding of crucial commissions of inquiry currently in sitting.

These are the Madlanga, Khampepe and Nkabinde inquiries, which were all working within their budgets. However, Kubayi said she had requested Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana for an extension of the Madlanga Commission and extra funds.

Of the R147-million budgeted for the Madlanga Commission, R123-million has been spent so far.

Sex offenders

A major achievement announced to the committee was a commitment to a 100% registration of convicted sex offenders in the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO). Kubayi announced later that a draft Bill would be circulated to make this register public.

Targets also included finalising child maintenance matters within 90 days, which will bring relief to parents and reduce the criminal case backlog on the court roll by 30%. These are all ground-level issues that directly affect the lives of citizens.

Additionally, the department planned to upgrade 44 district courts to meet minimum standards for domestic violence support services. With Ramaphosa’s declaration of gender-based violence as a National Disaster, this will come as a welcome move.

Deceased estates

South Africans will be pleased to learn that State Legal Services, responsible for family law and the Master’s Office, is undergoing a revised turnaround strategy, expected to be implemented by September 2026, to address backlogs.

A significant focus also will be “the expedited processing of deceased estates, with a 100% target for issuing letters of appointment for small estates (under R250,000) within seven days”. South Africans have complained bitterly about the length of time it takes to settle these deceased estates, often resulting in hardship.

Legal reviews

Mothibi told the committee that work on issues raised in the State of the Nation Address, for example, protected disclosure/whistleblower protection legislation, was progressing and that this had been put out for public comment until 14 May.

Also, a legislative programme had been submitted to Deputy President Paul Mashatile and the Speaker’s office, enabling the portfolio committee to monitor and plan for upcoming work.

This programme importantly included reviews of the Criminal Procedure Act, the NPA Act, the SIU Act and the Public Protector Act. Some of these would be presented to the committee “within a month or two”, said Mothibi.

Murder conviction rate queried

The 74% murder conviction rate has been challenged, with Mothibi responding that this statistic would be reviewed and that a NPA representative would “re-engage” with the strategy team, the National Prosecuting Services team and Directors of Public Prosecution to “rehash and revisit” the claim.

He said the NPA had to make “doubly sure” that 74% was the correct figure to present to the committee, the minister and the public.

The statistic arose from the NPA’s claim of “an upward performance trajectory”, with a projected performance of 94% for the unaudited 2025/26 period.

Specific conviction rate targets included in the presentation were 87% in high courts, 78% in regional courts and 74% for murder prosecutions. The NPA was also focused, he said, on asset forfeiture, money laundering prosecutions and ensuring the country remained off the international grey list.

Misleading metrics

Responding to the claim, the Prosecutions Project, a national initiative, issued a statement that these “metrics” were misleading. The Prosecutions Project is housed at the Dullah Omar Institute under Africa Criminal Justice Reform and is led by Professor Lukas Muntingh and Dr Jean Redpath.

They noted that while the NPA had claimed conviction rates remained high (“most, above 90%, which sounds impressive”), what was not disclosed “are the number of cases prosecuted to verdict”.

These, noted the project, had “collapsed over the past two decades – from 300,000 cases in 2004/5 to just 170,000 in 2024/25. The NPA’s reporting to Parliament is built around conviction rates, which are calculated on cases prosecuted to verdict, not on cases that were initially enrolled in court”.

These conviction rates did not reveal “the hundreds of thousands of cases that never get to verdict – that are withdrawn, or struck off, or are closed because the accused stops coming to court after multiple postponements – these categories are the fate of the majority of enrolled cases”.

The Prosecutions Project statement added that the underlying system of the NPA “is in serious decline”.

Stiff remedies

Mothibi set out for the committee how the NPA was attempting to arrest this very decline.

He noted that in line with “government’s commitment to ensuring independence and a single judiciary”, shared services from the Department of Constitutional Development were in the process of being transferred to the Office of the Chief Justice, beginning in April.

Targets had been increased to demonstrate the “seriousness and collaborative work within the justice portfolio committee”. The NPA, he said, was seeking to appoint new National Prosecuting Services and Asset Forfeiture Unit heads as well as a Deputy National Director of Prosecutions by the end of the month.

The Director of Public Prosecutions in the Eastern Cape was due to retire, and a recruitment process had begun, he said adding that since the NPA’s last annual report, a new DDP for Mpumalanga had been appointed.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ) was recruiting a director-general after the departure of advocate Doc Mashabane earlier this year.

ICT woes

A key issue raised by the justice committee and the department was that of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), and work to rebuild and address these concerns was taking place, said Mothibi.

Deputy director-general for ICT and chief information officer in the DOJ, Jabu Hlatshwayo, was suspended in August 2025 due to delays at the start of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. He resigned at the start of his disciplinary process.

Mothibi said the DOJ had conducted an analysis after “public and committee outcry” and found that while high-end systems – “Rolls-Royces” – were used, the environment was not conducive to their use.

The audit identified more than 24 service providers in ICT, leading to duplication of software and infrastructure. These issues were being addressed.

This strategy aimed to improve operations at the Master’s and State Attorney’s offices.

Admin, admin, admin

The DOJ said it was committed to achieving unqualified audit opinions for the vote count as well as all managed funds, including the Guardians and the President’s Fund.

A key target was ensuring that all undisputed valid invoices were paid within 30 days.

Employment equity was also a priority, with targets for women at 50% of senior management service positions, young people at 20% and persons with disabilities at 2.2%. DM