DA walks out of Justice Committee

15 October 2015

The DA, this morning, walked out of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services when the Chairperson, Mathole Motshekga, shut down all debate and refused for Opposition Parties to ask questions regarding the embattled deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions, Nomgcobo Jiba, after remarks made by Prosecutions Head, Adv Shaun Abrahams, in support of Ms Jiba.

The DA will therefore be reporting Mr Motshekga to Cedrick Frolick who is responsible for all Committee Chairpersons and their conduct. Motshekga is duty-bound to allow debate and engagement on all subject matter that does not breach the law. His failure to allow debate in this instance is born of political considerations that are a complete abuse of Parliament and its processes.

This comes after Adv Abrahams appeared before the Committee to brief it on the financial state of affairs at our National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and spent a substantial amount of time singing the praises of Ms Jiba and explaining why she was promoted which was not the purpose of his briefing. He was clearly singing for his supper and justifying questionable decisions.

In any event when pressed on the substance of his Jiba “praise song” the Chairperson of the Committee, prompted by Adv Abrahams, shut down all Opposition probes and cited the sub judice rule which clearly doesn’t apply as the NPA Head implicitly waived that rule by raising the issue in some detail. The reasons for shutting down debate are clearly rife with political motivations as is everything regarding the NPA in recent times.

This, we contend, is a complete abuse of process and Mothole Motshkega has now made Parliament complicit in a despicable campaign to protect a Ms Jiba, who is presently the subject of an Inquiry by the Pretoria Bar Council along with North Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions, Sibongile Mzinyathi and discredited Commercial Crimes head, Lawrence Mwrebi, to be struck from the Roll of Advocates as not fit and proper to be members of the profession.

Additionally the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) have both repeatedly and harshly criticised Ms Jiba for dishonest and unbecoming conduct with particular reference to the Spy Tapes saga and the baseless investigation into the KZN Head of the Hawks, Johan Booysen.

All those responsible for the erosion of our prosecutorial independence and integrity need to face the music. That is why we will be writing to Mr Frolick to have Dr Motshekga and his history of flagrant political bias dealt with.

The DA will also, later this week, be filing its supplementary affidavit in the Western Cape High Court, in which we submit that there is ample prima facie evidence to have Ms Jiba suspended pending a formal inquiry into her suitability to continue as the second-in-command at the NPA.

Statement issued by Adv Glynnis Breytenbach, DA Shadow Minister of Justice, 15 October 2015