The Mokgoro Inquiry report found Jiba and Mwrebi unfit to hold their respective offices and gave President Ramaphosa until Thursday to act on the recommendation to fire them.
The Mokgoro Inquiry, consisting of Advocate Kgomotso Moroka SC, Thenjiwe Vilakazi and headed by retired Constitutional Court Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, was mandated to probe into matters such as Jiba’s roles in the spy tapes fiasco and the firing of former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Johan Booysen. Both Jiba and Mrwebi’s roles in the withdrawal of charges against controversial former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli were investigated.
Former acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba and former head of the Specialist Commercial Crimes Unit Lawrence Mrwebi were suspended in October 2018 pending the outcome of the inquiry. Last week, Mokgoro met with President Cyril Ramaphosa to present him the report and gave him until 00:00, 26 April 2019, to act on the recommendations of the report.
In her report, Mokgoro did not mince her words about Jiba and Mrwebi’s status to hold their respective offices.
“In view of the totality of evidence, and in light of the evaluation … we find that both Jiba and Mrwebi are not fit and proper to hold their respective offices.
“We find that as a senior member of the NPA, Jiba has displayed irreverence to the courts and indifference to their processes, resulting in adverse comments being made about her.
“Mrwebi’s conduct is inconsistent with the obligation imposed by the Prosecution Policy Directives which requires prosecutors to act in a balanced and honest manner. The code of conduct for members of the prosecuting authority requires that prosecutors be individuals of integrity whose conduct is objective, honest and sincere,” the report read.
Buried on page 257 of the Mokgoro report is a new revelation about the presidential pardon given to the husband of suspended deputy prosecutions head, Nomgcobo Jiba. Jacob Zuma’s pardon went against the recommendation of the justice minister and did not follow the usual processes.
Although the president is not bound by the inquiry’s recommendations, he is yet to announce his decisions and a way forward.
Abenathi Gqomo
a.gqomo@politicalanalysis.co.za
