TURNING A CORNER

Cyril Ramaphosa’s firing of Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi offers the National Prosecuting Authority a fresh start

February 21 was a historic day for Nomgcobo Jiba: it was the first time she spoke out publicly against allegations, circulating for years, that she had protected powerful individuals and politicians in discharging her duties as a senior official of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Jiba’s tone was one of measured outrage as she told her side of a story that has spanned more than a decade. She was speaking at an inquiry, chaired by former Constitutional Court justice Yvonne Mokgoro, into her fitness to hold office.

Jiba told how she had started as a young Eastern Cape prosecutor and, against all odds, had risen through the ranks of the

NPA. She said she had proved an inspiration when she was appointed deputy national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) in 2010, and shortly thereafter as acting head of

the NPA — a first for a black woman in SA.

But, she said, she had been shocked by the pushback to her elevation.

“When my appointment to the position of deputy NDPP in 2010 was announced, I faced unprecedented attacks,” she said. “One political party [the DA] led the charge and declared that I was not to be trusted to serve my country in that position in accordance with the requirements of the constitution and the law. So unfair, harsh and vicious were these attacks that they prompted the minister of justice & constitutional development to issue a public statement in my defence.”

In time, it would not just be the DA that believed Jiba could not be trusted to lead the The firing of Jiba and Mrwebi is a huge boost to the process of restoring the NPA’S integrity NPA’S prosecution services — her responsibility as one of four deputy NDPPS.

Mokgoro found Jiba and special director of public prosecutions Lawrence Mrwebi were not fit to hold office and that they had brought the NPA into disrepute, not acting impartially or with the required level of competence. Based on the recommendation by Mokgoro and her co-panellists, President Cyril Ramaphosa fired Jiba and Mrwebi last week (though parliament could theoretically overturn that decision).

The move is a huge boost to the process of restoring the integrity of the institution. It also means these senior posts can be filled with people who have not brought the NPA into disrepute, nor been seen to protect politically connected individuals.

But, despite the evidence given against them, Jiba and Mrwebi believed they should be given a soft landing. Jiba asked

What it means: