Doubts raised about Deputy director of public prosecutions qualifications

Deputy director of public prosecutions Nomqcobo Jiba failed to submit copies of her qualifications, raising doubts that she might not be an admitted advocate, according to a report.

The Sunday Independent reported that Jiba failed for three months to supply the required documentation, according to the report on Sunday.

Officials conducting the probe had also been unable to find her name in any of the high court rolls, the publication reported.

Her failure to submit the documentation along with other top officials, has raised questions within the National Prosecuting Authority regarding her qualification and admission as an advocate.

Jiba failed to answer questions directed to her by the newspaper.

When she was contacted for comment, she said: " I am in a meeting," and hung up, according to the report.

The newspaper reports that the advocates' roll was currently incomplete, so it was not clear if the absence of Jiba's name from the roll was a mistake by the Justice Department or if she was not an admitted advocate.

NPA spokesman Nathi Mncube said Jiba held an LLB degree, but was unable to furnish the newspaper with her certificate of admission as an advocate.

Justice department spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga told the newspaper that an auditing process was underway to ensure the names of NPA advocates were on the roll.

The auditing process was expected to be completed in March 2015.

Mhaga said the names of advocates used to be kept manually in a book, but around 2000 the department introduced an electronic system that crashed in 2003.

Jiba's CV, which appeared on the NPA website, said she was an admitted advocate of the high court. However, it did not indicate in which year she was admitted as an advocate, according to the report.