Shamila Batohi has called for a fundamental shift in how the country tackles corruption, emphasising the need for ethical leadership and systemic reform to prevent corruption from resurfacing.

Listen to this article 10 min Listen to this article 10 min 'There is an awkward truth at the heart of almost all anti-corruption efforts under way today, in countless countries across the world," said advocate Shamila Batohi, the National Director of Public Prosecutions.

"The truth is, prosecuting corrupt public officials and private-sector players, even the most senior ones, won't end or deter future corruption."

Batohi, a renowned prosecutor whose career spans from apartheid-era investigations to senior advisory roles at the International Criminal Court, was speaking at the 2024 Public Protector Conference on Monday, 18 November 2024, in Kempton Park, Gauteng.

The theme of this year's conference - hosted by the Public Protector and Department of Public Service and Administration and funded by the European Union - is the role of oversight bodies across various sectors and how compliance contributes to holding government and state organs accountable.

Batohi was telling the conference room - attended by practitioners, researchers, civil society representatives, scholars and observers in the fields of governance, oversight, and compliance - that while prosecutions are crucial, they alone are insufficient to eradicate corruption.

"It would be comforting, indeed, to believe that prosecuting 50, 100, or even 1,000 beneficiaries...