SIU’s Andy Mothibi appointed NDPP boss as Ramaphosa scraps “shambolic” shortlist

Key topics:Ramaphosa appoints SIU head Andy Mothibi as new NDPPFlawed NDPP shortlist scrapped, legal challenge narrowly avoidedDA pressure and constitutional concerns shape final decision.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..BizNews Reporter .In a move that has simultaneously spiked the guns of critics and likely saved a humiliating legal battle, President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head Advocate Andy Mothibi as the new National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).The announcement, effective 1 February 2026, comes after weeks of growing discontent from opposition benches — specifically from the former NPA prosecutor and now Democratic Alliance firebrand, Glynis Breytenbach. If you’ve been following the saga of the search for Shamila Batohi’s successor, you’ll know the process hasn’t just been bumpy; it’s been, to borrow a phrase from Breytenbach, "off the rails."“Constitutional Disaster” Averted?Only weeks ago, Breytenbach issued a blistering statement that now reads like a prophecy of the process’s collapse to find a much-needed new broom after the underwhelming seven-year term of the incumbent. She warned that the advisory panel, led by Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, was steering the country toward a “constitutional disaster” by shortlisting candidates with serious clouds over their heads — most notably Advocate Menzi Simelane, a man previously found by the Constitutional Court to be unfit for the very same office.“The panel set up to advise the President has chosen to interview Adv Menzi Simelane, a man already found unfit for this very office by South Africa's highest court,” Breytenbach noted in her statement. She didn't mince words, adding: “It is impossible to overlook that history… If he is treated as qualifying, then the process is irrational. And if the process is irrational, it is unlawful.”The DA’s ultimatum was clear: if the President picked from a poisoned list, they would see him in court.It appears Ramaphosa listened. Or, at the very least, his legal advisors did. By bypassing the panel’s recommendations entirely — an advisory report which reportedly concluded that none of the interviewed candidates were suitable — the President side-stepped the DA’s looming interdict. Instead he opted for a "safe pair of hands" in Mothibi, a man whose tenure at the SIU has been defined by quiet competence rather than the noisy scandals that plague so many other state entities.Mothibi: The Man for the MomentSo, who is the new boss at the NPA?Advocate Jan Lekgoa “Andy” Mothibi is no stranger to the grime of fighting corruption. Appointed to head the SIU in 2016 (ironically, during the dying days of the Zuma administration), Mothibi kept his nose clean and head down. Under his leadership, the SIU has clawed back billions in stolen state funds, particularly from the chaotic looting of the Covid-19 era.His background is a mix of hard-nosed law and corporate risk management. He cut his teeth as a prosecutor and magistrate in Johannesburg and Soweto before moving into the corporate sphere, handling risk and compliance for heavyweights Big Four banks Nedbank and Standard Bank, as well as medical aid Medscheme.This blend of prosecutorial instinct and corporate governance is precisely what the hollowed-out NPA needs. The organisation requires not just a lawyer, but a manager — someone who can fix the broken plumbing of an institution that Breytenbach has frequently described as "starved of budget" and teetering on collapse.A Victory for Pressure?While the Presidency will frame this as a decisive executive action, it is hard to ignore the role of the opposition’s pressure. Breytenbach’s statement laid out the stakes plainly: “We deserve a leader with credibility, independence, and courage. Not a re-run of a constitutional disaster.”In picking Mothibi, Ramaphosa has arguably met that criterion. Mothibi is viewed as credible. His independence at the SIU has been largely unblemished. And he will need every ounce of courage to take the helm of the NPA in 2026. Breytenbach is clearly concerned by his advanced years (63), but age usually begets wisdom, something the NPA desperately requires. The question now is whether this appointment will calm the waters. The DA’s threat of litigation was premised on a "flawed process." While the outcome—Mothib i—may be palatable, the fact that the President had to discard his own panel's work to reach it suggests the system for selecting our top prosecutor remains deeply fractured.For now, though, the "constitutional disaster" Breytenbach feared appears to have been averted, replaced by a cautious optimism. The SIU's loss is the NPA's gain. Let’s hope Mothibi packs his own lunch; he’s going to have a long first day at the office.

SIU’s Andy Mothibi appointed NDPP boss as Ramaphosa scraps “shambolic” shortlist

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