Johannesburg - President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to fire top NPA prosecutors Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi will now be left up to Parliament to decide whether to uphold the president's decision.
Ramaphosa said he decided to remove the two prosecutors on Thursday following recommendations by retired Constitutional Court justice Yvonne Mokgoro. The justice was appointed by the president to head up the inquiry which investigated Mwrebi and Jiba's fitness to hold office.
Jiba and Mrwebi have been served with letters explaining the president's decision.
"The President subsequently shared the report with the implicated officials and invited them to make representations regarding the findings and recommendations. Following receipt of these representations, the President has informed Advocates Jiba and Mrwebi that their tenure has ended with immediate effect," the presidency said in a statement.
Mokgoro's report is scathing on Jiba and Mrwebi's behaviour as prosecutors and has recommended that the two be fired and be struck off the roll of advocates.
Jiba had served as deputy national director of public prosecutions while Mrwebi was the special director of public prosecutions. They had been on suspension since October last year when Ramaphosa appointed the inquiry citing grave concerns about court judgements against the two which involved their conduct on various legal matters.
Mokgoro's report found that Jiba had compromised the independence of the NPA when she decided to charge former KZN Hawks head Johan Booysen. Jiba and Mrwebi had also failed to exercise discretion when they decided to drop corruption charges against former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli.
It also found that Jiba had been dishonest when she gave contradicting explanations to Ramaphosa in her representations last year and the explanation she gave the inquiry.
Now Ramaphosa will have to forward to Parliament the documentation explaining his reasoning for firing the two with 14 days. Parliament will have 30 days to consider Ramaphosa's decision and pass a resolution on whether to uphold the recommendation.