On Thursday, 26 February 2026, the New South Institute will host an online webinar to launch a new policy brief by Nicole Fritz, Affiliate Researcher in the Reforming Governance, Resisting Capture Programme. The policy brief, “Appointing the Next National Director of Public Prosecutions: Vital but in Itself Insufficient to Guarantee Turnaround,” will be published on the NSI website on the day of the event.

The brief examines the process to appoint South Africa’s next NDPP and argues that, while critical, the appointment alone cannot deliver the institutional recovery the National Prosecuting Authority urgently requires. Fritz draws on the Mokgoro Enquiry, recent court judgments, NPA annual reports, and emerging revelations from the Madlanga Commission to document how political capture corroded the NPA’s independence and internal culture — and how that corrosion has proved remarkably persistent. The brief calls for a rapid institutional diagnostic to inform the selection process and concludes with seven concrete steps the Presidency and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development can take to strengthen both the appointment and the office the incoming NDPP will inherit.

With the NDPP appointment now finalised, the focus must shift to the institutional reforms needed to rebuild prosecutorial capacity and public confidence. The webinar will bring together Fritz and a panel of experts to discuss what those reforms require in practice.

Dr. Jean Redpath, Senior Researcher at the Dullah Omar Institute at the University of the Western Cape, and Lawson Naidoo, Executive Secretary of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC), will join as discussants. The conversation will be moderated by Karyn Maughan, award-winning journalist, documentary producer and best-selling author.

Date: Thursday, 26 February 2026
Time: 12:00–13:00 (SAST)
Format: Online Webinar
Register here

For more information, contact the New South Institute at media@nsi.org.za or 078 547 4981.