OPINION

I have never received any money from from Bosasa or anybody else – Jiba

My salary comes from the NPA, says suspended deputy NDPP

I have never received any money from anybody else from Bosasa - Jiba

21 February 2019

Suspended deputy national director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba has denied receiving money from facilities management company Bosasa or anyone else.

"I want to state on record, I have never been paid any sum of R100 000 by Mr [Angelo] Agrizzi, by Mr [Linda] Mti, by Mr [Gavin] Watson and all of those names that are mentioned there.

"I have never been paid any money by anyone. My salary comes from the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority)," she told the Mokgoro inquiry on Thursday.

She was responding to testimony before the state capture commission of inquiry that she received R100 000, special director of public prosecutions Lawrence Mrwebi received R10 000 and Jackie Lepinka, who was reportedly working as her personal assistant at the time, received R20 000 every month. All three have denied the allegations.

Jiba hit back on Thursday and said: "I have never received any money from anybody else from Bosasa or from anywhere else. My salary comes from the National Prosecuting Authority."

She added that in 2009 and the following years, she had nothing to do with Bosasa.

"The only time that I got to be involved in the Bosasa matter was through briefings….those were briefings that involved other cases as well - not just Bosasa," she said.

Last month, former Bosasa COO-turned-whistleblower, Agrizzi, testified before the state capture inquiry that Jiba and Mrwebi accepted bribes and blocked prosecutions.

Agrizzi also testified that Mti – the former correctional services commissioner - leaked confidential NPA documents to Bosasa.

Agrizzi testified that in 2013, the lead prosecutor in the Bosasa matter, Marijke de Kock, wrote a memo in which she explained that she believed she would be ready to prosecute some of those involved in the Bosasa tenders-for-bribes scandal by the end of 2013. But this never happened.

He further claimed that in exchange for the documents and for the case against the company to be shut down, Bosasa executives paid Mti cash, which he would then pass on to Jiba, Lepinka and Mrwebi, who was De Kock's boss.

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