Pretoria - Questions about the credibility of National Prosecuting Authority senior officials, particularly the fitness of deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba for office, had a direct impact on South Africa’s criminal justice system, Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said on Monday.
“There must always be the supremacy of the rule of law. You shouldn’t be able to say because so and so is connected to us, then we are not going to prosecute. It creates the impression that all South Africans need to do is to be politically connected if they are going to be absolved from any criminal proceedings,” Maimane told reporters outside the National Prosecuting Authority headquarters in Pretoria.
“The instability at the NPA ends up with it being used as a political football which ultimately loses its credibility and legitimacy. Tomorrow people will say any prosecution against them is politically motivated, not criminally just.”
Maimane said his party was approaching the courts to request the judiciary to compel President Jacob Zuma to establish a commission of inquiry into Jiba’s fitness to hold office.
Fraud and perjury charges against Jiba were formally dropped in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria earlier this month. This was a day after newly appointed National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams announced that a decision has been taken to discontinue Jiba’s prosecution.
Jiba was set to go on trial this month on charges which related to her decision to prosecute Johan Booysen, the head of the Hawks in KwaZulu-Natal, on racketeering charges.
In February last year, Durban High Court Judge Trevor Gorven threw out the charges against Booysen, who was suspended at the time. The judge went on to describe Jiba’s decision to charge Booysen as “arbitrary, [and] offend the principle of legality and, therefore, the rule of law and were unconstitutional”.
In his judgement, Gorven agreed with Booysen’s assertion that Jiba had lied about having certain statements before her when she decided to prosecute, and could therefore not have used them to make her decision.
Booysen had been accused of running a criminal enterprise consisting of members of the former Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit that he headed up.
On Monday, DA shadow minister of justice Glynnis Breytenbach - a former senior NPA employee - said faith in the South African justice system was being eroded.
“Prosecutors are prosecutors for the people. When people have no faith in the justice system, then you see the kind of criminality and decay that we see. No one has respect for the police and the National prosecuting Authority. I am sure if you ask here, by show of hands, if anyone has confidence you will be lucky to get one person,” said Breytenbach.
“The president treats the institutions with disdain, as his personal playing field. This means ordinary South Africans have no faith in the law. We need people to uphold the law and to have faith in the law. We have a great Constitution and we need to see it being upheld.”
Several police officers were monitoring the scene as the DA supporters and their leaders formed a human chain along the NPA perimeter fence. Maimane said it was a symbolic act of protecting the institution.
ANA