Zuma takes action against Jiba, Mrwebi
Duo to provide president with reasons they should not be suspended
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has given notice of his intention to suspend Advocates Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi, the deputy national directors of Public Prosecutions, from office, pending an enquiry into their fitness to hold office.
This comes in the wake of the pair asking the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria for leave to appeal against the findings against them that they were not fit and proper persons to hold the office of advocate.
The court at the time ordered both be struck from the roll of advocates.
Zuma’s office yesterday said he had requested the two advocates to provide him with reasons as to why they could not be suspended, pending the outcome of the enquiry into their fitness to hold office.
“The President’s decision follows the recent judgment of the North Gauteng High Court in the matter of the General Council of Bar of South Africa vs Nomgcobo Jiba, Lawrence Sithembiso Mrwebi and Sibongile Mzinyathi in which the court ordered that the names of the two advocates be removed from the roll of advocates,” said the Presidency.
“The President has requested the two Advocates to provide him with reasons as to why they cannot be suspended pending the outcome of the enquiry into their fitness to hold office.”
His office said that after the hearing, Zuma would decide whether to suspend them or not. Their names were removed from the roll of advocates following an application by the General Council of the Bar.
Judge Francis Legodi, in a lengthy judgment concurred by Judge Wendy Hughes, did not mince his words when he found the pair not to be worthy of serving the advocates profession.
Jiba was called an “unrepenting, dishonest person”, while Mrwebi was said to be a liar and “someone who seems to have forgotten about the oath which he took when he was admitted as an advocate”.
The pair recently filed papers with the court, in which they are asking for leave to appeal. They stated a number of reasons for claiming the judge erred when he arrived at his findings, and said they were not deserving of the harsh treatment they received from the court.
The DA filed in a founding affidavit last month questioning Jiba’s fitness to hold office.
“In our affidavit the DA submits that, given the prima facie evidence of Ms Jiba’s long list of failings and improper conduct, President Jacob Zuma should suspend her pending a formal inquiry into her suitability to continue as the second-in-command at the NPA ,” DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said at the time.
“This comes after the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) have both repeatedly found Ms Jiba guilty of dishonesty and unbecoming conduct with particular reference to the spy tapes saga and the baseless investigation into the KZN head of the Hawks Johan Booysen.”
Former NDPP Mxolisi Nxasana asked Justice and Correctional Services Minister Mike Masutha and Zuma to suspend Jiba on several occasions following a judicial probe into management at the NPA. The probe recommended she be criminally charged for fraud and perjury.
“To make matters worse, Ms Jiba has recently been promoted from the head of legal affairs within the NPA to the head of the national prosecuting service (NPS). This is inexplicable because she will effectively have ultimate control of all prosecutions in South Africa, including the prosecution of her allies, like Richard Mdluli and Lawrence Mwrebi, who represent the worst in our criminal justice system.
“We therefore submit that the president’s decision not to institute this probe is inconsistent with the constitutionally entrenched independence of the NPA.”