Jiba loses court bid to be reinstated at NPA

Sacked deputy national director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba’s application to be reappointed has been dismissed in the Western Cape High Court with costs.

Jiba asked the court to order President Cyril Ramaphosa and the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi to reinstate her to the deputy national director of prosecutions position, “with all associated employment benefits with immediate effect”.

She also wanted the court to interdict or prohibit the president and the NDPP from filling the position until the finalisation of the review.

This after Ramaphosa fired Jiba in April, together with senior prosecutor Lawrence Mrwebi after retired Constitutional Court Justice Yvonne Mokgoro recommended he sack them from the NPA, following an inquiry.

The inquiry found neither of them “fit and proper to hold their respective offices”, according to a statement from the Presidency.

The decision had to be referred to parliament to determine whether Jiba and Mrwebi should be reinstated, not whether they should be fired.

Parliament has begun work on this process, but stalled it pending Jiba’s court application in two parts.

Judge Robert Henney found that Jiba failed to make a compelling case. There is also a second part to Jiba’s application, which will be heard at a later stage.

In this part, Jiba wants the court to order that Ramaphosa violated the Constitution and therefore acted unlawfully when he instituted an inquiry in terms of Section 12 of the NPA Act against her.

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