MK Party demands NPA reinstate Cato Manor ‘death squad’ prosecution Johan Booysen or face escalation.
Image: Jacques Naude
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has called for the immediate reinstatement of criminal charges against former senior police officer Johan Booysen and members of the controversial Cato Manor Unit, warning the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to act within seven days or face legal and parliamentary consequences.
The party said it had formally written to National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Rodney “Andy” Mothibi, demanding a fresh evaluation of the case and the revival of charges linked to alleged extrajudicial killings in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The demand to Adv Mothibi is not a request; it is a constitutional imperative,” the MK Party said.
“The NPA must immediately reinstate the prosecution without fear, favour or political interference.”
The party argues that the Cato Manor killings were not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of police conduct dating back to the apartheid era.
It accused the NPA of failing to hold alleged perpetrators accountable and of “shield/ing alleged murderers in police uniform who operated as a death squad under the guise of crime-fighting”.
Central to the MK Party’s argument is the NPA’s 2019 decision to withdraw charges against Booysen and others, a move it describes as irrational and unjustified. The party claims that former NDPP Advocate Shamila Batohi took the decision without properly reviewing key evidence.
“Despite the overwhelming prima facie case that led to the original enrolment of charges, the NPA scandalously withdrew the prosecution in 2019 without reading the dockets, the indictment, the prosecution memorandum, or any of the expert ballistics evidence.”
It further alleges that testimony at the ongoing Nkabinde Inquiry has exposed serious shortcomings in how the decision was made, including admissions that “key documents running into thousands of pages were simply ignored”.
“This was not a professional decision; it was a travesty of justice,” the MK Party said.
In its letter, signed by MK Party chief whip for the Peace and Security Cluster Mzwanele Manyi, the party insists that there is no legal basis for delaying prosecution while review proceedings are underway in the High Court.
“Any decision to delay on extraneous considerations would amount to an unlawful fettering of discretion, reliance on irrelevant factors, and a failure to fulfil your constitutional obligations,” Manyi wrote.
He added that the evidentiary threshold for prosecution remains intact, arguing that the original charges established a prima facie case that has not been overturned by any court.
“The subsequent withdrawal of the charges did not constitute a judicial determination on the merits,” the letter states.
The MK Party also framed the matter as a constitutional issue, saying continued inaction undermines key rights, including equality before the law and the right to life.
“Where credible allegations of unlawful killings by state agents exist, the interests of justice demand decisive and independent action,” the party said.
It warned that failure by the NPA to act would prompt escalation through “every available parliamentary and judicial avenue”.
“We will not rest until accountability is served and the families of the victims receive the justice they have been denied for far too long,” the statement reads.
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