Cape Town - The recent spate of charges brought by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) against current and former members does not bode well for the NPA’s integrity, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.
“The DA is concerned about reports in [Sunday’s] City Press that charges have been laid against Mxolisi Nxasana which question whether the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Advocate Shaun Abrahams is nothing more than a puppet installed at the head of the NPA. This for the sole purpose of settling political scores, no doubt, at the behest of NPA’s second-in-command Nomgcobo Jiba,” DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said.
“The sustained witchhunt against current and former members of the NPA and its associated agencies is cause for great concern and does not bode well for the integrity of our prosecuting authority,” he said.
Reports alleged that the NPA had charged its former head Nxasana with the harassment of an employee of the NPA based on allegations motivated by political revenge against a man who throughout his term as the NPA’s top prosecutor attempted to discharge his constitutional mandate too independently for Jiba’s liking.
In doing so, Nxasana asked both President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Mike Masutha to suspend Jiba and make her the subject of a disciplinary inquiry into her conduct at the NPA to no avail.
This month alone, Jiba through Abrahams, had instituted charges against former NPA prosecutor turned DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach for obstructing the course of justice. She had also instituted charges against former national Hawks head Anwa Dramat, KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Johan Booysen, for a seventh time, and was likely to do the same against suspended Gauteng Hawks head Shadrack Sibiya.
“In all these instances she has failed dismally to make any of the charges stick as most of them have been thoroughly ventilated and set aside by various courts of law,” Selfe said.
“In fact the only person who has been severely slated in a multitude of courts is Ms Jiba herself. This comes after the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) have both repeatedly found Ms Jiba guilty of dishonesty and unbecoming conduct with particular reference to the Spy Tapes saga and the baseless investigation into Booysen.
“The common thread through all these charges is that all of these individuals have vigorously attempted to do their work without fear, favour, or prejudice to the political motivated disdain of Ms Jiba who has enjoyed a checkered career at the NPA marred in dishonesty, political interference, and unlawful conduct,” he said.
The DA contended that this was in response to the DA’s review application requesting the Western Cape High Court to set aside Zuma’s decision not to suspend and order a commission of inquiry into Jiba, despite many calls to do so by former NDPP Nxasana.
“Her latest actions are exactly the reasons why she must be removed from the NPA and probed for her conduct. Failure to do so will see this pattern further develop to the detriment of our criminal justice system,” Selfe said.
“The DA strongly reaffirms its position that this is a witchhunt to tarnish the reputation of all her political enemies whose conduct has been preoccupied with restoring the credibility of our criminal justice system. It is disappointing given that Advocate Abrahams had the opportunity to fix the rot at the NPA but has instead chosen to continue the abuse of our prosecuting authority by subjecting it to endless politicisation.”
If Zuma was serious about avoiding the appearance of impropriety in the discharge of justice and due process he had to show leadership and suspend Jiba, whose presence at the NPA would cast doubt over any high profile decision made while she had “unfettered influence over the new NDPP Advocate Shaun Abrahams”.
“As he persists in his failure to do what is required of him, the DA has asked the court to do so in his place,” Selfe said.
African News Agency