Jiba expected to hear today whether she will be prosecuted

The inquiry into the fitness of National Prosecuting Authority advocates Nomgcobo “Snake” Jiba and Lawrence “Snail” Mrwebi stumbled yesterday with news of a decision apparently being made about Jiba’s possible prosecution – or not.

And former Constitutional Court Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, who is presiding over the inquiry, which has no criminal or civil implications, is expected to reveal today what the state of play is.

“Taking into account the nature of these proceedings, the panel rules that the parties must submit to the panel brief heads of argument by tomorrow morning,” Mokgoro said yesterday.

Their submissions should explain how the right to a fair trial in terms of the constitution was impacted “where the versions of the evidence of both advocate Jiba and advocate Ferreira have already been ventilated before court”.

Mokgoro also wanted the decision from the NPA on her desk yesterday.

Jiba’s advocate Thabani Masuku started proceedings concerned about the possible re-enrolment of fraud and perjury charges against Jiba and how that could affect the inquiry.

“I am instructed there is a decision which sits in the office of the acting NDPP regarding the very issues that will be canvassed by this witness,” Masuku said, and added if the trial against Jiba were to proceed, it created a problem if senior deputy director of public prosecutions advocate Jan Ferreira was reappointed as the prosecutor in the matter.

Ferreira was due to be quizzed yesterday by the inquiry over an internal memo penned by himself and advocate Gerhard van Eeden from the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit (SCCU) which provided for Jiba’s prosecution in 2015.

“We don’t want to put statements to him that may well affect our rights when we appear before the criminal case,” Masuka said.

NPA head Shaun Abrahams’ withdrawal of the case was later set aside by the North Gauteng High Court.

However, despite Masuku’s claim on behalf of Jiba, there has been no official word yet.

Jiba’s charges had arisen after she authorised the prosecution of Major General Johan Booysen and his members in what became known as the now discredited “Cato Manor hit squad” narrative, which claimed a “death squad” under Booysen was roaming the KwaZulu-Natal hills.

“I had before me sufficient information under oath implicating [Booysen] in the commission of offences, which information justified the decisions that I made,” Jiba wrote at the time.

“I applied my mind to the facts before me, prior to me making the impugned decisions and submit that on the basis of the information before me, I would have been unjustified and irrational if I had acted in another manner.”

Except, Ferreira had found, there was a preponderance of evidence, among others, such as gunshot residue on the hands of the people the “hit squad” were accused of killing, Booysen had only been to two of the many scenes after the fact, and inquests had already cleared some police officials.

Notwithstanding this, then NPA head Shaun Abrahams withdrew the case against Jiba, days before she was to face prosecution.

INFO

Terms under which the Mokgoro inquiry is held

• The president may provisionally suspend the national director or a deputy national director from his or her office, pending such an inquiry into his or her fitness to hold such office and, subject to the provisions of this subsection, may thereupon remove him or her from office:
• for misconduct;
• on account of continued ill-health;
• on account of incapacity to carry out his or her duties of office efficiently; or
• on account thereof that he or she is no longer a fit and proper person to hold the office concerned. – National Prosecuting Authority Act

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