Jiba, Mrwebi thrown a lifeline
THE DEPUTY National Director of Public Prosecutions, Nomgcobo Jiba, and the head of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit, Lawrence Mrwebi, were given a lifeline yesterday when they received the go-ahead to appeal against being axed as advocates.
The pair can thank Pretoria High Court Judge Wendy Hughes, who found the matter was in the public interest and that the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein should take another look at the issues.
Judge Hughes said both Jiba and Mrwebi said they had, at all times, acted in good faith and were merely exercising their duties when they took several high-profile decisions. This included the decision to drop fraud and corruption charges against the suspended head of crime intelligence, Richard Mdluli.
Judge Francis Legodi who, with Judge Hughes, ordered that the pair be struck from the roll last September, yesterday stuck to his guns and said they were not fit and proper persons to serve the advocate’s profession.
Judge Legodi wrote the scathing judgment against the pair last year, following an application by the General Council of the Bar to have their names removed from the roll of advocates.
The judge said he could not believe that two officers of the court who held top positions in the NPA, could “stoop so low” to protect one individual (Mdluli).
He said that by failing to prosecute Mdluli, they had brought into disrepute not only the prosecuting authority and the legal profession, but the office of the president.
In asking for leave to appeal, Jiba and Mrwebi said they were only doing their jobs as public servant officials. They said they were not advocates in private practice and felt that they were dealt with in an unreasonably harsh manner.
Judge Legodi said the decision to strike their names from the roll of advocates was mainly based on their handling of the Mdluli case, and they were found not to have acted in good faith on a number of complaints levelled against them.