/ 28 March 2015

Saps: Validity of Jiba summons not questioned

Advocate Nomgcobo Jiba.
Advocate Nomgcobo Jiba.

“The SAPS does not and has never questioned the validity of the summons, nor the NPA’s authority to issue such documents as this responsibility falls under their purview,” Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale said in a statement.

“The issue of contention is the timing of this action in the absence of prima facie evidence.” Makgale was responding to National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Mxolisi Nxasana’s comments earlier, that the national police commissioner Riah Phiyega had intervened in the matter. Nxasana told reporters in Pretoria that he received a call from Phiyega after senior police officers delivered a summons against Jiba, who is Nxasana’s deputy.

Since Jiba was not at her workplace, Nxasana was handed the summons, which he delivered to Jiba. He said Jiba refused to accept the summons. It required her to appear on criminal charges in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on April 21. “When I received a call from the national police commissioner, to be honest I still don’t know what was the reason for her call. She said the summons was not issued properly,” Nxasana said.

“Because of my position, I wouldn’t venture into saying what she is doing is defeating the ends of justice. All I am saying is that I am concerned with her involvement in the matter. I asked her, and I am asking you, does she really do this in all other matters where ordinary suspects are involved?” The charges against Jiba relate to her failed bid to lay murder and racketeering charges against suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Johan Booysen.

In February last year, Durban High Court Judge Trevor Gorven set aside the charges, saying they did not meet even minimum standards. Makgale had on Wednesday denied they were looking for Jiba, and said no summons had been issued. “It is worth mentioning that the issuing of the summons was not done in consultation with the [SA Police Service’s] investigating officer,” he said at the time.

On Friday Makgale said the only reason Phiyega had called Nxasana was because of the concerns raised by head of the detectives Lieutenant-General Vinesh Moonoo and the investigating officer in the matter, Major-General Norman Taioe. “Concerned with the manner in which the summons were issued … [Moonoo and Taioe] called the national commissioner and informed her that the issuing of summons at this stage could jeopardise the investigation. “It was within this context that the national commissioner made contact with Mr Nxasana to discuss the concern. There is absolutely nothing untoward in this regard,” Makgale said.

A prosecutor from the National Prosecuting Authority met with Taioe on Friday “to find an amicable solution,” Makgale said. The meeting went well, he said. – Sapa