President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andrew Chauke with immediate effect, marking the latest in a series of high-profile suspensions and dismissals that have rocked the government in recent days.
The suspension comes pending an inquiry into Chauke’s fitness to hold office.
This decisive action follows a tumultuous period for Ramaphosa’s administration, coming just hours after the President dismissed Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane and a bit more than a week after placing Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on leave of absence in light of an ongoing investigation.
The rapid succession of suspensions has raised questions about governance stability within key government institutions and the President’s approach to dealing with officials facing serious allegations.
“President Ramaphosa has decided suspension is the correct course of action pending an inquiry,” the Presidency said in a statement, adding that the President had informed Chauke of his decision in writing.
The President’s decision appears to be motivated by concerns over institutional integrity and public confidence. Ramaphosa believes that Chauke’s continued tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions while facing serious accusations would negatively affect the reputation of the National Prosecuting Authority as a whole.
The Presidency also expressed concerns that Chauke would not be able to fulfill his functions optimally while facing an inquiry, suggesting that the suspension serves both reputational and operational purposes.
The nature of the specific accusations against Chauke has not been detailed in the official statement, though the reference to “serious accusations” and “disputes of fact” indicates the gravity of the situation.
Chauke’s suspension comes nearly two years after Adv. Shamila Batohi, National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), submitted a request to Ramaphosa for his suspension. She approached the president with this request in August 2023 regarding the manner in which Chauke handled certain high-profile corruption cases.
At the time, Batohi argued that there were serious questions about how Chauke handled a case involving Duduzane Zuma, son of former president Jacob Zuma.
Duduzane crshed into a taxi in his Porsche in 2014 – an incident in which a woman died and three other people were injured. Batohi wanted to know why Chauke did not charge Duduzane with culpable homicide and reckless driving at the time.
Batohi also said there were questions about Chauke’s actions in the state’s case against Richard Mdluli, the former crime intelligence chief, and the Cato Manor police unit in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mdluli is accused of gross misuse of the police’s secret fund. In November last year, he was still struggling with legal aid after spending years trying to get the police to pay his legal costs. He appeared in the High Court in Pretoria in 2021 after failing to appear for trial four times previously.
A request from him for the state to cover his legal expenses was dismissed by the Pretoria High Court in November last year. Mdluli submitted the request because he believed the complaint against him was related to his work in service of the police.
On another occasion Chauke also decided to withdraw corruption charges against Zizi Kodwa, the former minister of sport, arts and culture, and his co-accused, businessman Jehan Mackay.
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