A Zuma-era prosecutor found wanting by a court made the shortlist for the National Prosecuting Authority's next leader.

The interviews for the country's top anti-crime and anti-corruption job, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), will be held from 8 to 10 December 2025. Bookmark it because it is one of the few top jobs that determines South Africa's future. Six of 32 candidates made the final cut for public interviews: four are women, two are men.

The interviewing panel is chaired by Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, assisted by Chris Nissen (chairperson of the Human Rights Commission), Advocate Nthabiseng Sepanya-Mogale (chairperson of the Commission on Gender Equality), Professor Somadoda Fikeni (the chairperson of the Public Service Commission), as well as a representative each of the Black Lawyers Association and of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers.

NDPP Shamila Batohi retires in January after a term in which she has had to reform the institution gutted by State Capture and neutered by the former president Jacob Zuma, who understood that to stay out of jail he needed a pliant NDPP. Batohi has made some progress but not enough to see a single bigwig in orange overalls, a fact that has harmed the good work she and her team have done to change the trajectory of the National Prosecuting Authority...