The National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), advocate Shamila Batohi has warned the public about a "fake news" report circulating on social media. The report claims that she has announced "imminent arrests of state capture accused“.
Making the rounds on X (formerly Twitter), the report alleges that although the names have not been released to the public, to protect their names, the list contains big figures in political and business spaces.
In a statement, the National Prosecuting Authorities (NPA) said the report was bogus and warned the public to be aware of such.
"The NDPP does not make any announcements on arrests," it said.
ALERT: The National Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv Shamila Batohi warns members of the public about fake news report posted on x. According to the report, NDPP has announced "imminent arrests of state capture accused". The NDPP does not make any announcements on arrests.
— NPASouthAfrica (@NPA_Prosecutes) April 1, 2024
Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed that there will be more arrests arising out of the Zondo Commission report into State Capture.
Despite the public's wish for law enforcement agencies to enforce laws, the president said investigations were under way and arrests would take place.
He said while they paid more than R1 billion for the Zondo Commission, they have cancelled contracts worth R86bn and assets worth R64bn have been forfeited to the State.
He mentioned that the Hawks, police, and other agencies have been working on these cases.
The State has so far recovered billions of rands from companies that were implicated in state capture.
Last year, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) made about 33 arrests from the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into allegations of State Capture.
This was when the unit briefed Parliament on progress made after Ramaphosa received the state capture report in 2022.
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