Mokgoro Inquiry: 'Jiba kept me in the dark' - deputy NDPP
14 February 2019
Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Nomvula Mokhatla has revealed that she was kept in the dark on high-profile cases which suspended deputy prosecutions boss Nomgcobo Jiba had been involved in.
Testifying at the Mokgoro inquiry in Centurion, Mokhatla said that when Jiba became the acting National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), she changed the strategy and operations of the legal adviser division (LAD), which Mokhatla headed.
The inquiry was established to investigate whether two of the country's most senior prosecutors – Jiba and special director of public prosecutions Lawrence Mrwebi – are fit for office.
According to Mokhatla, Jiba reduced her division's mandate and told her, in a meeting in her office in 2012, that "certain services would no longer be rendered from within LAD, but would be dealt with by the national prosecuting services with immediate effect".
These included representations and complaints made to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
"Generally in all high-profile cases where the acting NDPP's (Jiba at the time) attention is required, she had a greater level of involvement than in other cases and it was generally managed from her office," Mokhatla submitted.
Mokhatla said that although she was not consulted at times, she expected Jiba to keep her abreast of cases which involved her unit, the LAD.
Mokhatla said that ideally, when all litigious cases come to the NPA, they should immediately be brought to the attention of the head of the LAD, so that they can allocate someone to oversee them.
"Jiba would sometimes engage the assistance of persons employed in LAD without any consultations with me."
Mokhatla on Thursday afternoon is expected to further detail how she was kept in the dark with other high-profile cases.
