Nomgcobo Jiba is the Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions.
The Justice Mokgoro inquiry into the fitness of advocates Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi to hold office is expected to have its first hearing on Monday in Centurion.
The first witness to take the stand is current Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr Silas Ramaite, followed by Advocate Chris Jordaan SC, the inquiry’s spokesperson Bongiwe Gambu said in a statement on Sunday.
The hearings, led by former justice of the Constitutional Court Yvonne Mokgoro, will start daily at 10am and are expected to end at 4pm.
President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended both Jiba and Mrwebi in October 2018 pending the outcome of the inquiry.
Jiba is the Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions and Mrwebi the Special Director of Public Prosecutions.
In a letter to Jiba and Mrwebi, Ramaphosa said: “I have taken into account the serious nature of allegations that you are unfit to be in so high an office, where the work of our criminal justice system is central to the critical and pressing matter of all prosecutions, especially prosecution of corruption cases and safeguard of our public purse.
“You hold a senior position with influence over a large swathe of the NPA. It is the interest of the NPA’s image as a whole that I consider here, and of the integrity of an enquiry (sic) that must result in the clearest and most convincing conclusions about the integrity, and sound leadership of the NPA.”
In July last year, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) overturned a ruling by the high court in Pretoria that Jiba and Mrwebi be struck from the roll of advocates.
However, the General Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCB) later filed papers in the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal the SCA ruling.
In the papers, GCB chairperson Craig Watt-Pringle SC said he believed there were “reasonable prospects of success in an appeal”.
Jiba and Mrwebi are opposing the application. The matter will be heard in court on March 14. — News24