Waiting for the smoke
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News24
an hour ago
- News24
DA proposes anti-corruption commission amid NPA criticism on botched cases
Our_DA / Twitter The DA has proposed an independent anti-corruption commission and constitutional reforms to strengthen the NPA. NPA head Shamila Batohi admitted setbacks in Timothy Omotoso and the Gupta brothers' extradition cases but defended the progress, blaming underfunding. Batohi insists the NPA is recovering from state capture's damage. The DA has called for sweeping reforms to the country's criminal justice system, including the establishment of an independent anti-corruption commission. The party accused the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of systemic failures in the handling of high-profile corruption cases. Briefing the media on Friday, DA MPs Glynnis Breytenbach, Damien Klopper and Nicholas Gotsell outlined concerns over the NPA's inability to secure convictions in state capture cases. They cited recent blunders such as the botched extradition from the US of Moroadi Cholota, the ex-personal assistant of former Free State premier Ace Magashule. 'Monotonous' failures Breytenbach criticised the NPA for 'failing to prosecute with any kind of conviction', pointing to procedural errors in high-stakes cases. She highlighted the Cholota matter, where the Free State director of public prosecutions, rather than the justice minister, incorrectly applied for her extradition, a misstep that derailed the case. On Tuesday, the Bloemfontein High Court overturned Cholota's extradition from the US to face corruption charges in the ongoing R250 million Free State asbestos corruption case involving her former boss Magashule, businessperson Edwin Sodi and others. The court upheld a special plea Cholota raised on the NPA's decision to haul her back to SA. Cholota will no longer appear as a co-accused in the case. These mistakes keep happening with monotonous regularity. Glynnis Breytenbach Breytenbach added that not a single politically connected individual had been imprisoned for state capture. She cited other failures, including the Thales corruption case and the withdrawal of charges in the Phala Phala matter due to procedural errors. Klopper expanded on these concerns, referencing the high-profile case of Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso, in which the NPA's mishandling led to a 'disastrous acquittal'. He also noted the DA's recent private prosecution of a common assault case after the NPA declined to pursue it, questioning the institution's capacity to handle even basic prosecutions. Omotoso was acquitted last month and later deported to Nigeria. Calls for structural reform The DA proposed three key interventions: An anti-corruption commission – A chapter 9 body independent of executive control, with its budget determined by National Treasury rather than the justice minister Strengthening NPA independence – Constitutional amendments to remove the president's sole power to appoint and dismiss the National Director of Public Prosecutions Capacitating the NPA – Urgent budget increases to fill vacancies and attract skilled prosecutors, alongside performance audits by the Auditor-General. Gotsell added that a 'watching brief' programme, piloted in the Western Cape, could improve the coordination between the NPA, the SA Police Service and the victims of crime. He also suggested employing final-year law students to assist the prosecutors with administrative tasks. Batohi defends NPA's record Meanwhile, NPA head Shamila Batohi, speaking on SABC News earlier in the day, acknowledged the setbacks but denied a crisis within the institution. Batohi admitted that the Omotoso case was 'devastating' but said the NPA was appealing the court judgment and it was also investigating prosecutors' conduct. On state capture, Batohi defended the NPA's progress in the cases, noting that the Investigating Directorate had enrolled 33 cases. However, she conceded that there were challenges, including underfunding and salary disparities that were driving skilled prosecutors to other agencies, and 'internal chaos' caused by some staff allegedly undermining the NPA's mission. There has been no political interference during my tenure, Shamila Batohi She admitted she could not guarantee that individual prosecutors were not influenced. She also expressed frustration over the delays in extraditing the Gupta brothers, blaming the United Arab Emirates (UAE) court's refusal and pledging to reapply with additional evidence. In 2023, the UAE dismissed SA's request to extradite the Guptas, and government's attempts have yielded no fruit since then. With her term ending in January next year, Batohi vowed to intensify efforts in the remaining months of her contract. The DA, however, remained sceptical, arguing that only bold reforms, not 'slapdash legislation', could restore public trust in the NPA.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Professor sues University of California for suspension over comments about Israel's war in Gaza
A professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, says the university violated her freedom of speech rights by suspending her for her online comments about Israel's war in Gaza in a new lawsuit. The suit was filed by Rupa Marya, an internal medicine physician and professor at UCSF, identified as an expert in decolonial theory. Marya was placed on leave in September 2024 and had her clinical privileges briefly suspended by the UCSF executive medical board following comments she made on X that questioned the impacts of Zionism as 'a supremacist, racist ideology' on healthcare. Without naming Marya directly, the university subsequently published a statement across its social media accounts that said such comments were a 'tired and racist conspiracy theory' that 'Zionist doctors were a threat to Arab, Palestinian, South Asian, Muslin and Black patients, as well as the US healthcare system' and should be condemned. Related: Ms Rachel says she'll risk career to advocate for children in Gaza Mark Kleiman, an attorney for Marya, said in the court filing that his client was fired last month 'despite requesting a hearing, which she was entitled to', according to NBC News. 'Firing Dr Marya doesn't only violate her right to free speech, it threatens all of us,' he said in a statement to the network. 'We all need to urgently speak up against these kinds of attacks on our basic rights to advocate for justice, and we expect the court will agree with us that Dr Marya's rights have been violated and must be remedied.' According to court documents, Marya's posts 'never impeded the performance of her duties as a physician or faculty member, or the regular operation of the university'. 'As a medical doctor, American citizen and as a person of south Asian descent raised in the Sikh religious tradition, Dr Marya has long been concerned about American foreign policy, including in the Middle East and the issues surrounding the conflict between Israel and Palestine,' the complaint reads. 'Her posts take aim at state policy and supremacist political ideologies, not at any religious or ethnic group.' According to the lawsuit, Marya received 'rape and death threats' as well as 'repeated harassment and threats' because of her posts. She says her posts also expressed 'solidarity with the hospitals and healthcare workers that Israel was attacking in Gaza' and that she 'felt an obligation to speak out and did so using her X account'. In a September 2024 post, Marya wrote on social media that UCSF students were concerned that a first-year student from Israel may have served in the IDF; she asked 'if he participated in the genocide of Palestinians' and asked her colleagues what to do about it. The post drew the attention of state senator Scott Wiener, who posted on X that 'the same UCSF professor who promoted the 'doctors' plot' – an age old antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jewish doctors are harming patients – is now targeting a 1st year med student for harassment b/c he's Israeli. This professor is creating a toxic, hostile environment at UCSF.' UCSF's chancellor, Sam Hawgood, said he took 'immediate action to address this situation,' adding that 'targeting any member of our UCSF community – especially in a way that fosters hostility or discrimination – will not be tolerated', according to a letter obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. In a March interview with the Guardian, Marya asked: 'How do we integrate [Israeli] reservists into the medical community – with [Palestinian] students who have lost 50 or 60 family members? What is the moral obligation of medicine?' The lawsuit comes as there is ongoing and widespread disagreement across the US about academic freedom on college campuses. Last week, the Trump administration stepped up its efforts to force US universities to crack down on what it deems antisemitic activity. The Department of Education warned New York's Columbia University it could lose accreditation, and thus access to federal grants, over an alleged violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. The Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services said last month that it had found that Columbia had acted with 'deliberate indifference' toward the harassment of Jewish students during campus protests. Israel's war in Gaza is estimated to have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and levelled much of the territory. Last week, the Guardian reported that on Sunday at least 31 Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces opened fire near a food distribution center in Rafah, Gaza. A separate incident at the same site on Monday killed three. International criticism intensified last week over a new aid distribution system in Gaza, run by the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and not UN or international aid organisations. The UN's human rights chief, Volker Türk, said that Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: 'Die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available.' The attacks on civilians, he added, constituted a war crime. The Guardian has contacted UCSF and Marya's legal team for comment.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
I'll never forget what Walter Cronkite told me
One time, I was interviewing this old guy and he went on and on about how important good journalism is to democracy. You could tell he really believed it. That old guy's name was Walter Cronkite. I interviewed him in his office several years ago, and his words and passion for good journalism have never been more important or rung so true. And The Arizona Republic provides plenty of it. Whether it's local news and sports, expert looks at the dining scene, tough coverage of politics or informed opinions about what's going on in the Valley and the world, The Republic and offer all this in addition to, if I might twist your arm a bit, my media criticism and commentary and movie and TV reviews. And if there is one thing that's true about providing such thorough coverage of the place where we live and beyond, it's this — it ain't free. That's where you come in. A subscription to The Republic helps support our work, which I frequently argue is important. Our coverage of major stories, such as the Gilbert Goons and local favorites like high school sports, is unparalleled. I read it, and you should, too. Not to oversimplify things, but reading our coverage is how I know what's going on in the community I live in. And that's important. For my part, I write about how the media covers (or doesn't) the kind of attacks on democracy Cronkite warned against, alongside reviews of films (horror movies are a particular favorite) and TV shows (I love TV), and the occasional food essay. Recently, I wrote about criticism of the book 'Original Sin,' and how some people think it's something that shouldn't exist. I disagree. You can write about almost anything, and we do. If you don't like one story, move on — you'll likely enjoy the next one. Not only can we cover more than one thing, but we have to. It's what we do. And we do it well. We'd love for you to be a part of it. After all, you don't want to disappoint Walter Cronkite. Special offer: If you like our work, please consider becoming a subscriber. Save on a new subscription today. Reach Goodykoontz at Facebook: Media commentary with a side of snark? Sign up for The Watchlist newsletter with Bill Goodykoontz. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Republic columnist: My mission is to uncover the truth
