Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba was never afraid of being prosecuted, she said on Wednesday.

“I was never afraid of the case going forward. You are talking to a prosecutor,” Jiba told reporters in Johannesburg.

Earlier in the day the charges against her were officially dropped in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria.

This followed the announcement by National Prosecuting Authority boss Shaun Abrahams on Tuesday that charges would be withdrawn.

‘I’ve been called names’

Jiba said on Wednesday she and her family had been hurt by everything that had happened and the insults hurled at her.

“Everything that has happened and continues to happen, it hurts them, and it hurts me too.

“I have been called names, I don’t know where these names come from. I’ve been called a diva and some have said… Nomgcobo Jiba’s nine lives and I have only one life.”

She said she started prosecuting in the Eastern Cape in 1988 and was trained through the justice college.

“I have grown through the ranks of prosecution. I was not just picked up from the street… [it is] something I have been doing all my life.”

Not biased

Jiba also denied she had ever been biased, saying she always prosecuted without fear or favour and was never pressurised to make certain decisions.

She has been accused of protecting President Jacob Zuma.

“I’ve been accused of working for President Zuma… I cannot work for President Zuma because I am a prosecutor. My responsibility is to prosecute without fear, favour or prejudice,” Jiba said. News24