President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed advocate Andy Mothibi as South Africa’s new National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), with effect from 1 February 2026.

Mothibi replaces Shamila Batohi, whose term at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) comes to an end later this month.

The appointment followed an advisory panel process established by the president to oversee the selection of a new NPA head. The panel, chaired by Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, and comprising senior figures from Chapter 9 institutions and the legal profession, interviewed six shortlisted candidates from an initial pool of 32 applicants. In a report submitted in December 2025, the panel advised the president that none of the interviewed candidates were suitable for appointment.

Mothibi was not one of the six. He did not apply for the post and was not interviewed by the panel. Ramaphosa instead exercised his constitutional authority under section 179 of the Constitution, and section 10 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act, to appoint him directly.

The decision places Mothibi at the head of an institution that has struggled for years to secure any high-level corruption convictions, despite repeated leadership changes. While the NPA is constitutionally required to act without fear, favour, or prejudice, its leadership is appointed through a presidential process that remains politically sensitive, particularly when prosecutions involve senior figures linked to the governing African National Congress (ANC).

Beyond questions of independence, the new NDPP will inherit deep operational constraints. Senior prosecutors have long raised concerns about the quality and reliability of evidence produced by the South African Police Service, particularly in complex corruption and organised-crime cases. Incomplete dockets, weak forensic work, chain-of-custody failures, and compromised witness handling have repeatedly undermined prosecutions before they reached court.

These evidentiary weaknesses raise the professional risk of pursuing high-profile cases that might collapse under cross-examination, reinforcing a culture of caution within the prosecuting authority and limiting its willingness to proceed against politically powerful suspects.

Mothibi will also take charge amid a political environment in which the ANC’s internal integrity committee has frequently been presented as an alternative justice forum for accountability. The committee, however, has no subpoena powers, no rules of evidence, and no authority to impose criminal sanctions, despite public messaging that has at times blurred the distinction between party discipline and formal legal accountability.

Mothibi currently serves as head of the Special Investigating Unit. He began his legal career as a public prosecutor in the Johannesburg and Soweto magistrates’ and regional courts, before serving as a magistrate in those courts. He later moved into senior legal and governance roles across the public sector.

His previous positions include serving at the South African Revenue Service, where he held the roles of head of corporate legal services and head of governance, overseeing litigation strategy, legal compliance, and institutional governance. He has also worked in the private sector managing legal, compliance, and risk functions.

Mothibi holds a BProc degree from what was then the University of Bophuthatswana and is admitted as an advocate of the High Court.

With Mothibi’s move to the NPA, Ramaphosa has appointed Leonard Lekgetho, the SIU’s chief operating officer, as acting head of the SIU from 1 February 2026.

The Presidency thanked Batohi for her service to the prosecuting authority and expressed its appreciation to the advisory panel for its work in the selection process.