The second annual Freedom Under Law and Stellenbosch University’s Department of Journalism annual lecture took place in Cape Town on 11 November 2024. The lecture was delivered by the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Shamila Batohi, and was titled “Strengthening the Rule of Law: Challenges and Opportunities for the NPA.”

 Batohi emphasised the need for the rule of law to be a collective priority for South Africa, especially in the global context where the rule of law is increasingly coming under pressure. She emphasised that the NPA takes its role in upholding the rule of law seriously, and highlighted the work that had been done to strengthen the institution following the harm caused by state capture.

  Batohi highlighted a range of initiatives which had been taken to strengthen the NPA, including stabilising its leadership, increasing capacity, reintroducing a community prosecution initiative, engagements with business. Batohi emphasised the dual challenge of corruption and violent crime, and discussed how the NPA was addressing these challenges. She concluded with a call for civil society and the media to push back against smear campaigns targeting the NPA, and for support for efforts to achieve structural reform of the NPA.