Lawson Naidoo | The NPA's progress since 2019: Not yet at its peak, but significantly improved

Despite several successes, together with the recent arrest of former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqukula for corruption and money laundering, the perception remains that the NPA is dysfunctional and does not go after the "big fish". This is unfair, argues Lawson Naidoo.

There is a tendency towards examining the fight against state capture and corruption through the prism of what the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) does or does not do. This is a narrow lens that does not do justice to the broader efforts in the anti-corruption environment.

The NPA on its own will not win this fight. It has been said before that we cannot prosecute our way out of state capture, and indeed the State Capture Inquiry outlined a range of institutional and legislative reforms that are required to strengthen our governance systems to deal with corruption.