By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has dismissed an application to review and set aside the appointment of National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Adv Andy Mothibi.
The court finds that the applicant has not established a basis for a review of Mothibi’s appointment.
B Xulu and Partners Incorporated filed an urgent court application in December 2025 to prevent president Cyril Ramaphosa from appointing the new NDPP, saying the interview process was flawed, biased, and unlawful.
Following Ramaphosa’s appointment of Mothibi, Xulu filed a second urgent application to block the appointment, describing the process as “politically deliberate”.
Mothibi, appointed by Ramaphosa in January, was not among those interviewed for the position.
The panel found all six shortlisted candidates unsuitable.
The court also affirmed that Ramaphosa has the authority to appoint any candidate he deems suitable.
B Xulu and Partners Incorporated argued that after an advisory panel failed to recommend a candidate, the president had three options: to end the panel process and find another way to decide, extend the former National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP)’s term or call for new nominations.
But the court rejected this, calling the options speculative.
It also dismissed the firm’s claim that Ramaphosa was required to appoint a new advisory panel before selecting Shamila Batohi’s successor.
Mothibi has been an excellent head of the once-troubled SIU, in terms of both its institutional culture and its performance. He has brought the unit to financial stability and reportedly secured unusually high staff morale after implementing an effective turnaround strategy.
In the 2023/24 financial year, under Mothibi, the SIU reported its highest recovery of stolen or misspent money, with R2.28-billion in cash returned to the state. In total, SIU investigations in that year saved the government an estimated R8-billion – a figure that includes not only cash recovered, but also contract payments stopped or assets preserved before they could be wasted.
Under Mothibi, the SIU has aggressively pursued civil asset freezes and forfeitures, played a key role in post-State Capture cleanup at state-owned entities, and gone after corrupt government officials. It has been a shining light within South Africa’s depleted criminal justice institutions.
Mothibi also has a richly varied professional history: from being a magistrate, to helping establish the SA Revenue Service, to working as head of compliance at South African Airways, to heading up risk units at Standard Bank and Nedbank. This is somebody who knows South Africa’s public and private sectors inside and out, which is both unusual and useful.