Afriforum seeks private prosecution against former NPA deputy boss Jiba

Disgraced National Prosecuting Authority deputy director‚ Advocate Nomgcoba Jiba is firmly in the sights of private prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

Nel‚ through civil rights organisation AfriForum‚ announced on Thursday that Jiba would be prosecuted for alleged fraud‚ perjury and defeating the ends of justice.

Jiba was disbarred by the Roll of Advocates in September 2016 because of three adverse findings against her by different courts in the country.

AfriForum has requested a private prosecution certificate from Jiba's boss‚ Shaun Abrahams‚ who has up until now refused to prosecute her [Jiba] despite NPA legal opinion stating that she should be prosecuted.

The charges‚ said AfriForum head Kallie Kriel‚ stem from Jiba's repeated malicious attempts to have former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Major-General Johan Booysen prosecuted for racketeering.

The racketeering charges are in connection with Booysen's apparent overseeing of an alleged police death squad in the province.

Booysen has won seven separate court fights against Jiba in the past.

Booysen and AfriForum believe that Jiba's charging of him [Booysen] stem from his relentless pursuit of KwaZulu-Natal businessman and close President Jacob Zuma family ally Thoshan Panday.

Kriel‚ announcing the private prosecution‚ said they had written to the NPA on Thursday requesting a nolle prosequi [private prosecution certificate].

"We dont believe it is going to be easy. In fact we believe it is going to be quite a battle to obtain this certificate because of all the protection of key Zuma allies that is going on in our state institutions.

"Institutions like the NPA are captured. We are not saying that there are no good people in the NPA but there are people‚ like Abrahams‚ who have shown that they are captured."

He said they believed that Jiba had committed fraud‚ defeating the ends of justice and perjury by having Booysen charged with racketeering‚ attempting to stop the prosecution of Panday‚ and for repeatedly lying in court‚ "which she was caught out on several times by different courts.

"There exists irresistible inference that Booysen was targeted unlawfully by Jiba after Booysen started investigating the business operations of Panday."

He said that Advocate Mxolisi Nxasana‚ who at the time replaced Jiba as the National Director of Public Prosecutions‚ launched an investigation into Jiba's actions against Booysen‚ following a judge's ruling against her.

"Jiba was subsequently charged with fraud and perjury."

He said when Abrahams replaced Nxasana‚ he declined to have Jiba - a friend of Zuma - prosecuted.

"This was despite NPA legal opinions that she should be criminally charged."

He said they were doing this to break the stronghold political figures have on the NPA so that it can continue to do its job as it is constitutionally mandated to do without fear or favour.

"Abrahams’ actions have shown that the NPA is captured."

Nel‚ said Kriel‚ would lead the prosecution of Jiba.

Booysen said that as long as he had breath in him‚ he would not stop in his fight for justice.

"This is not about pursuing a particular person. This is about stamping out corruption in the country. It’s about putting an end to state capture‚ in all our institutions. "This is about ensuring that all are equal before the law‚ which the NPA abdicated their responsibility of ensuring and doing."

He said he and Nel had been in consultation for months to ensure that they had a solid docket. "It has been a complex task and the docket is comprehensive‚ in the evidence that it contains."