Deputy director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba is officially off the hook following the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) decision not to continue with her prosecution on charges of fraud and perjury.

National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams announced on Tuesday that charges against Jiba‚ whose trial was due to start tomorrow‚ would be withdrawn as there were no prospects of successful prosecution.

He told reporters in Pretoria that the decision not to continue with Jiba’s prosecution was not taken by him but by Adv Marshall Mokgatle‚ the regional head of the specialised commercial crimes court unit.

Abrahams said last Thursday he had requested that Mokgatle provide him with his decision accompanied by a legal opinion on the matter.

“Late yesterday (Monday) afternoon I received advocate Mokgatle’s decision and opinion in which he decided to decline prosecuting advocate Nomgcobo Jiba on the charges of perjury and fraud‚” he said.

Charges against Jiba relate to the prosecution of Johan Booysen‚ the Hawks head in KwaZulu-Natal‚ on racketeering charges for his role in the alleged criminal activities of members of the Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit which he headed.

In February last year Durban High Court Judge Trevor Gorven threw out the charges against Booysen and slammed Jiba’s decision to charge Booysen as “arbitrary‚ (and) offend the principle of legality and‚ therefore‚ the rule of law and were unconstitutional”.

The judge found that Jiba had lied under oath about having statements before her when she decided to prosecute‚ and could therefore not have based her decision on the statements.

Jiba has reportedly been promoted head of NPA’s national prosecution services in an internal reshuffle process.

Abrahams confirmed the reshuffle but would not give details‚ saying this was an internal process that could not be discussed in the public domain.