Time is running out for President Cyril Ramaphosa to officially announce whether he has decided to axe senior National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) officials Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi, following an inquiry into their fitness to hold office.
Come April 25, Jiba, the suspended deputy national director of public prosecutions (NDPP), and Mrwebi, special director of public prosecutions at the head of the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, will have been sitting at home for six months — the maximum amount of time for which they can be on suspension.
Ramaphosa, as part of his reform agenda, has placed a strong focus on restoring the credibility of the NPA. The institution plays a critical role in the functioning of the criminal justice system but it has, for more than a decade, been considered vulnerable to political interference.
At the heart of such perceptions have been prosecutorial decisions related to politically sensitive cases. These include the decisions to drop criminal charges against former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, considered an ally of former president Jacob Zuma, and to institute racketeering charges against former KwaZulu-Natal hawks boss Johan Booysen — charges allegedly trumped up to hamper his investigations in the province.
In court challenges related to these two decisions, questions were raised about how Jiba and Mrwebi conducted themselves in litigation and in the decision-making process. These were among the central allegations considered during the inquiry into their fitness to hold office, which ran over six weeks earlier this year.
In a meeting with Ramaphosa on Wednesday retired constitutional court judge Yvonne Mokgoro, who chaired the inquiry, handed a hard copy of the lengthy report to the president.
The importance of Mokgoro’s work was underscored in the letters Ramaphosa sent to Jiba and Mrwebi when they were first suspended. In them, he said it was “the interest of the NPA’s image as a whole that I consider here, and of the integrity of an inquiry that must result in the clearest and most convincing conclusions about the integrity, and sound leadership of the NPA”.
The closest indication so far of Mokgoro’s findings and recommendations — which have been kept under wraps — appeared in the statement issued by the presidency last week. It said Jiba and Mrwebi had until Tuesday to make representations to Ramaphosa.
Lawson Naidoo, executive secretary for the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution, said on Friday that Ramaphosa’s request that Jiba and Mrwebi make representations suggests they were found unfit to hold office.
According to the NPA Act, parliament must be provided with the reason for the removal of an NDPP, deputy NDPP or special director, along with the representations by the relevant party, within 14 days of that person’s removal from office. Parliament then has 30 days within which to table the matter. It then decides whether to restore them to their positions.
Ramaphosa will have no choice but to send Jiba and Mrwebi back to the NPA if parliament resolves that they must remain in office.Given that it is less than a month before the elections, the politics of such a decision come into play. For now, Ramaphosa has the support of the caucus. However, the elections will determine how much support the ANC gets and who eventually makes it into parliament.
Ramaphosa is not bound by the decision of the inquiry; former president Kgalema Motlanthe fired then NDPP Vusi Pikoli despite the Ginwala inquiry finding him fit to hold office — that was what the political environment of the time dictated.
In the political climate it would be an own goal if the president decided to keep them in office. It would send a message to Ramaphosa’s adversaries in the ANC that he has been unable to keep his promise to reform and renew state institutions such as the NPA.
As Naidoo points out, it would also hamper new NDPP Shamila Batohi’s efforts to restructure the NPA in a manner of her choosing. This, in turn, would affect the public perception of the NPA. Justice should, after all, not only be done but also be seen to be done.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.