Deputy national director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba was yesterday served with a provisional charge sheet on two counts of fraud and one of perjury when she made her first appearance in the Pretoria Regional Court.
In brief proceedings, the case was postponed to June 10 for documentary evidence to be disclosed. A trial date is expected to be set when Jiba appears again. The counts relate to the failed attempt to prosecute KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Johan Booysen in 2012 on charges including racketeering. She authorised the initiation of a racketeering prosecution against Booysen.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decided to prosecute Jiba last year after the high court in Durban set aside her decision to charge Booysen.
The court found that there was no material evidence considered by Jiba to rationally authorise the prosecution of Booysen.
In the provisional charge sheet, the prosecution states there was "no evidence whereupon the racketeering prosecution against Maj-Gen Booysen should have been instituted".
The two counts Booysen wanted set aside alleged that he had participated in the conduct of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and that he managed the operations of such an enterprise. This is alleged to have been done while he was in charge of a specialised unit based at Cato Manor police station.
However, Judge Trevor Gorven said setting aside the authorisations and decisions to prosecute did not mean fresh authorisations could not be issued, or fresh decisions taken to prosecute if there was a rational basis for such decisions.
Jiba and two other senior prosecutors, Lawrence Mrwebi and Sibongile Mzinyathi, are facing another court challenge from the General Council of the Bar, which has applied to the North Gauteng High Court to have their names struck from the roll of advocates. Jiba, head of the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, Mrwebi and North Gauteng head of public prosecutions Mzinyathi were the subject of stinging criticism in a number of court judgments in 2013 and last year.
The cases related to the withdrawal of corruption charges against suspended head of police crime intelligence Richard Mdluli, the botched prosecution of Booysen and Jiba's conduct in the "spy tapes" case between President Jacob Zuma and the DA.
Mrwebi's criminal case of defeating the ends of justice for dropping the case against Mdluli was struck off the roll last week. This happened after the Pretoria Magistrate's Court refused to grant the prosecution a postponement to appoint private counsel to handle the case on its behalf. NPA spokesman Velekhaya Mgobhozi said yesterday the prosecution would take a decision on how to proceed with the Mrwebi case, and would communicate its decision.
More woes for rebel top prosecutor Jiba
Deputy national director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba was yesterday served with a provisional charge sheet on two counts of fraud and one of perjury when she made her first appearance in the Pretoria Regional Court.
In brief proceedings, the case was postponed to June 10 for documentary evidence to be disclosed. A trial date is expected to be set when Jiba appears again. The counts relate to the failed attempt to prosecute KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Johan Booysen in 2012 on charges including racketeering. She authorised the initiation of a racketeering prosecution against Booysen.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decided to prosecute Jiba last year after the high court in Durban set aside her decision to charge Booysen.
The court found that there was no material evidence considered by Jiba to rationally authorise the prosecution of Booysen.
In the provisional charge sheet, the prosecution states there was "no evidence whereupon the racketeering prosecution against Maj-Gen Booysen should have been instituted".
The two counts Booysen wanted set aside alleged that he had participated in the conduct of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and that he managed the operations of such an enterprise. This is alleged to have been done while he was in charge of a specialised unit based at Cato Manor police station.
However, Judge Trevor Gorven said setting aside the authorisations and decisions to prosecute did not mean fresh authorisations could not be issued, or fresh decisions taken to prosecute if there was a rational basis for such decisions.
Jiba and two other senior prosecutors, Lawrence Mrwebi and Sibongile Mzinyathi, are facing another court challenge from the General Council of the Bar, which has applied to the North Gauteng High Court to have their names struck from the roll of advocates. Jiba, head of the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, Mrwebi and North Gauteng head of public prosecutions Mzinyathi were the subject of stinging criticism in a number of court judgments in 2013 and last year.
The cases related to the withdrawal of corruption charges against suspended head of police crime intelligence Richard Mdluli, the botched prosecution of Booysen and Jiba's conduct in the "spy tapes" case between President Jacob Zuma and the DA.
Mrwebi's criminal case of defeating the ends of justice for dropping the case against Mdluli was struck off the roll last week. This happened after the Pretoria Magistrate's Court refused to grant the prosecution a postponement to appoint private counsel to handle the case on its behalf. NPA spokesman Velekhaya Mgobhozi said yesterday the prosecution would take a decision on how to proceed with the Mrwebi case, and would communicate its decision.
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