Though the NPA set up a team to investigate claims of wide-spread racism within its ranks in 2009, and roped in the SA Human Rights Commission after receiving complaints, Ravana Sewsunker Jacobs claims little is being done to eradicate the problem from the courts.
In papers filed in the Pretoria High Court on April 5, Jacobs - who was a senior prosecutor at the Klerksdorp Magistrate's Court at the time of the alleged abuse but has since been promoted to magistrate - claims that she suffered years of torment, primarily at the hands of a white senior public prosecutor, Jacques Swanepoel.
She also claims that Radebe and the NPA for years turned a deaf ear to her complaints.
The NPA is yet to file responding papers, but the authority's communications manager, Bulelwa Makeke, has refuted Jacobs' claims, saying the NPA takes "allegations of racism (and any other misconduct) within its ranks very seriously, and displays its commitment to take harsh action where there is proof of such misconduct".
Swanepoel was axed last year after a disciplinary hearing - four years after racism allegations were brought against him.
In her court papers, Jacobs, 38, alleges that Swanepoel and others told her and other black prosecutors at the Klerksdorp court that they were inferior to their white counterparts and should not be assigned complex cases, such as those related to stock-theft. She said she and others were "isolated" from outreach projects arranged by white prosecutors because, she was told, they were only for whites and Afrikaans speakers.
The NPA, she claims, despite being told of the slurs and racial incidents, failed to create a working environment conducive to non-white prosecutors performing to their full potential.
"The defendants were [told of] a plethora of grievances by the plaintiff and official investigations but took no reasonable steps to prevent . unlawful and unreasonable acts . leaving the plaintiff feeling betrayed and tortured," she said in her court papers.
In March 2009 the NPA launched an investigation triggered by an internal report drawn up after complaints of racism made by black prosecutors at several courts.
Jacobs claims that a damning 2007 internal report by Eric Sibeko, former NPA chief prosecutor in the Durban cluster of courts, detailed a series of racial incidents at courts, mainly in North West, but the authority failed to act on it timeously.
According to the report, a prosecutor was instructed to withdraw a drunk-driving and culpable homicide case without looking at the docket, allegedly because the accused was white.
It also states that a Klerksdorp prosecutor was recalled from sick leave and ordered to return to work because a female white prosecutor had flu and "deserved to rest".
According to the report, this was despite the fact that the man had recently been involved in a car accident that left him with a swollen mouth and six stitches.
The report quotes the prosecutor as saying: "It pained me so much to realise that I am being ill-treated because of the colour of my skin. I could smell and taste racism."
Jacobs - who has suffered "immense stress", has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and is on prescribed medication.
She is demanding R9.21-million for past and future medical expenses and loss of earnings while being booked off, and for degradation of dignity and the loss of the amenities of life.
She says in her court papers that her health and wellbeing suffered to the extent that she was booked off work for "incapacitation".
She claims she was constantly discriminated against because she is Indian and was victimised by white prosecutors who said she "stole the position'' because of ''affirmative action".
"I was ostracised and picked on because of my culture and language to the extent that I was told that "all Indians look alike", she said, adding that she was regularly told that blacks were stupid.
Jacobs claims she was also victimised because she blew the whistle on irregularities in her department.
"The defendants procrastinated in taking necessary procedural steps and allowed the torturing and victimisation to continue in support of the aggressor, making the plaintiff's work environment intolerable."
Makeke confirmed that racism among court officials had been raised by unions five years ago.
She said that, because the scope of the investigation was "too enormous to define", it was not implemented but when racism was again alleged a decision was taken to set up a racism task team of union and employer representatives in March 2009.
"The HRC was also brought in to assist. Due to the bargaining chamber's financial constraints, the racism task team could not perform its functions in full. However, all racism complaints received by the chamber were forwarded to the HRC for investigation but no feedback was received."
Makeke said the NPA investigated the allegations of racism raised in the Sibeko Report and charged Swanepoel with racism, among other things.
He was subjected to an internal disciplinary hearing and found guilty and dismissed in January last year.
Repeated attempts to get comment from the HRC were not successful.