Willie Hofmeyr

Mbeki was elected as President of South Africa in the 1999 election and in May he appointed Hofmeyr as a Special Director of Public Prosecutions at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Hofmeyr's mandate was to establish and lead the new Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) within the framework of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.[1] In May 2001,[3] Mbeki promoted him to Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP); he served under NDPP Bulelani Ngcuka and at the same time retained his post as the head of the AFU.[1][8] Weeks later, in July 2001, he was appointed – in addition to his two other posts[1] – to head the NDPP's Special Investigating Unit (SIU).[3]

At the ANC's 52nd National Conference in December 2007, Mbeki was replaced as ANC president by Jacob Zuma, who ran partly on a platform of disbanding the Scorpions, a specialised anti-corruption unit of the NPA. Although Hofmeyr opposed that policy, he played a key role in implementing it: under Mbeki's successor as national President, Kgalema Motlanthe, he was involved in drafting the relevant legislation and overseeing the transition to the new Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, commonly known as the Hawks, a weaker anti-corruption unit located under the South African Police Service.[8][9] Speculating about how Hofmeyr's role could be reconciled with his opposition to the policy, the Mail & Guardian pointed out that Hofmeyr used his influence in the process to lobby for the retentions of the Scorpions' investigative model; it observed that "Hofmeyr may not be someone to compromise his principles, but compromise is one of his principles".[8] Hofmeyr was also touted as a likely candidate for appointment as head of the Hawks,[8][9] though he was not ultimately appointed.

At the tail end of Motlanthe's presidency, Hofmeyr was involved in the NPA's controversial decision, announced in April 2009, to drop corruption charges against ANC president Zuma. It was common cause among the press that Hofmeyr supported dropping the charges while another respected prosecutor, Billy Downer, advocated for pursuing them.[8][10] In his capacity as Deputy NDPP, Hofmeyr was appointed to study the so-called Spy Tapes, secret audio recordings that Zuma's lawyers claimed revealed political collusion in Zuma's prosecution, and he advised the acting NDPP, Mokotedi Mpshe, to drop the charges.[10][11] Announcing the decision, Hofmeyr said, "It was simply not possible for us to proceed given the manipulation of the [prosecutorial] process."[12]

The Mail & Guardian supposed that Hofmeyr might have been aiming to broker "a compromise that will let Zuma off the hook while saving the NPA from further bashing and embarrassment" in the best interests of the NPA's survival, though the newspaper also pointed out that Hofmeyr might have been protecting his own political interests, given his presumed candidacy for the top job at the Hawks.[8] Hofmeyr continued to defend the decision for years after, maintaining his position that there had been political interference in Zuma's prosecution: in a 2015 affidavit, he alleged that former NDPP Ngcuka, former Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy, and former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils had been "part of a broader collective of Mbeki supporters who viewed the NPA as a tool to fight Mbeki’s political battles".[13] He wrote:

I argued that the prosecution should be discontinued. I had investigated Zuma’s allegations. In my view, they proved that McCarthy and Ngcuka had actively abused the NPA to discredit Zuma... McCarthy did, in fact, manipulate the timing of the institution of the prosecution against Zuma for political reasons. He did so because he, and others close to Mbeki and opposed to Zuma, believed that delaying the prosecution would harm Zuma's attempts to compete against Mbeki for the position of ANC president.[13]

In 2019, however, Hofmeyr told an inquiry that he regretted the decision and had "overreact[ed]" to credible allegations that, in 2008, there had been political interference in Jackie Selebi's corruption trial.[10] He said:

I accept that I made a mistake by attaching so much value to the integrity of the NPA and not sufficient weight to the evidence on the criminal case. I will live with that regret for a very long time.[10]

In 2010, shortly after Zuma's election as national President, new NDPP Menzi Simelane announced a plan to restructure the NPA, which included dismantling Hofmeyr's AFU.[14] Weeks later, Simelane said that the relevant clause was "an unfortunate drafting error"; it was reported that Justice Minister Jeff Radebe had intervened to save Hofmeyr's job.[15]

In July 2011, the NPA announced that Hofmeyr was under investigation by the police in connection with alleged misappropriation of SIU funds in improperly awarded tenders. Hofmeyr was quoted as saying, "It is to be expected that there will be efforts to discredit those dealing with serious corruption, and this has happened in the past. One just has to be tough enough to deal with it when it happens".[16] Journalists,[17] civil society organisations,[18] and opposition parties all expressed concern about the NPA's announcement, especially because the SIU had announced in March that it was actively investigating 16 public agencies, including the police department; the Democratic Alliance suspected that the investigation had a "sinister motive".[16]

The investigation did not lead to any concrete charges but, in November 2011, Zuma announced that he had removed Hofmeyr as head of the SIU, in order to "ease the pressure" on him as he continued in his roles as Deputy NDPP and head of the AFU.[19] AmaBhungane said that Zuma and his supporters were suspicious of Hofmeyr because of his influence in the NPA, because of his association with a group of ex-Scorpions, Gerrie Nel among them, and because he was "seen as having changed since once too often" in ANC's factional politics, especially given that he was formerly viewed as "Mbeki's man".[8][20]

In August 2015, recently appointed NDPP Shaun Abrahams removed Hofmeyr from the AFU and transferred him to the legal affairs division, a move viewed as a demotion.[21] He remained a deputy NDPP in his new post. In early 2016, Hofmeyr provided evidence in a court case which sought to remove Nomgcobo Jiba from her position as deputy NDPP; in an affidavit, he alleged that Jiba frequently acted "in support of political groupings" and that Abrahams – still his boss – had displayed "a systematic pattern of protecting Ms. Jiba and others improperly... suggest[ing] that he has chosen to align himself with their agenda".[22]

Also in 2016, Hofmeyr was shortlisted for appointment to succeed Thuli Madonsela as Public Protector. He was dropped when the shortlist was condensed in August.[23]

In April 2019, after Shamila Batohi was appointed to succeed Abrahams as NDPP, Hofmeyr was returned to his previous post as head of the AFU.[24] He retired in November of that year.[25] At that point he was the longest-serving of the NPA's four Deputy NDPPs.[17]

In 2023, Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel appointed Hofmeyr to a one-year term as one of four members of the board at the National Lotteries Commission.[26]