NPA Contact Details

The National Prosecuting Authority decides whether to prosecute a criminal case. It does not investigate crime, take charges or arrest anybody; the police do that. Knowing the difference is what stops most NPA enquiries going to the wrong place.

Official contact details

• Head office: 012 845 6000
• General email: communication@npa.gov.za
• Address: VGM Building, 123 Westlake Avenue, Weavind Park, Silverton, Pretoria, 0184
• Postal address: Private Bag X752, Pretoria
• National Prosecutions Service: 012 845 6705

Routing your query to the right desk

• Representations, meaning a written submission asking the NPA to reconsider a decision: repsadmin@npa.gov.za
• Office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions: ndpp@npa.gov.za
• Investigating Directorate case referrals: idreferrals@npa.gov.za, or complaints.idac@justice.gov.za
• Thuthuzela Care Centres: thuthuzela@npa.gov.za
• Media enquiries: media@npa.gov.za

A representation is the formal route if you believe a decision not to prosecute was wrong, or you are an accused person asking for a charge to be reconsidered. Put it in writing with the case number and the court, because a telephone call cannot become a representation.

The NPA also publishes a list of Directors of Public Prosecutions by division and a list of Thuthuzela Care Centres on its own site. A Thuthuzela centre is a one-stop facility for survivors of sexual offences, usually attached to a hospital, and going to one is often better than going to a police station first.

Reporting corruption in the NPA itself

• NPA hotline, toll free: 0800 212 580
• Email: npa@thehotline.co.za, or SMS 30916
• Post: PO Box 10512, Centurion, 0046

The hotline is independently run and takes anonymous reports. The same number serves the NPA Integrity Management Unit.

The other national helplines the NPA publishes

These appear on the NPA contact page, which makes them a government source rather than a directory listing, and several are worth having:

• SAPS Crime Stop: 0860 10111, or SMS Crime Line 32211
• GBVF-related service complaints: 0800 333 177, or complaintsnodalpoint@saps.gov.za
• Childline: 0800 055 555
• Women Abuse Helpline: 0800 150 150
• National Human Trafficking Helpline: 0800 222 777
• Suicide Helpline: 0800 567 567
• National AIDS Helpline: 0800 012 322

One correction worth making. The NPA page gives the Gender-Based Violence Command Centre SMS code as 3153; the Command Centre own site publishes it as 31531, and its own site is the authority on its own service. The Command Centre telephone number, 0800 428 428, is the same on both.

If you have a complaint

The NPA publishes a formal complaints route and a code of conduct on its own site. A complaint about how a prosecutor handled your matter goes there. A complaint about a police investigation is a different body: that is the Independent Police Investigative Directorate. And a complaint about a magistrate or judge goes to the Magistrates Commission or the Judicial Service Commission, neither of which the NPA controls.

Tenders and jobs

The NPA publishes open, received, awarded, closed and cancelled tenders, requests for quotations and a supplier registration route on its own site, along with careers and an aspirant prosecutor programme. Nobody legitimate charges a fee for a government job application or promises a tender award. That is precisely what the hotline above exists for.