President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa on Thursday suspended two senior officials at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), pending the outcome of an inquiry into their fitness to hold office.

Nomgcobo Jiba, Deputy Director of the NPA and Lawrence Mrwebi, Special Director of the NPA were informed of Ramaphosa’s decision to institute an inquiry into their fitness to hold office, the South African Presidency said.

Presidential Spokesperson, Khusela Diko, said the decision would afforded Jiba and Mrwebi to make submissions in August on why they should not be suspended, pending this inquiry.

Ramaphosa decided to suspend, with immediate effect, Jiba and Mrwebi, on full pay, pending finalisation of the inquiry, Diko said.

In his letters to Jiba and Mrwebi, Ramaphosa said he took into account the serious nature of allegations that they were unfit to hold such high positions.

Ramaphosa stated in the letter that the work of the country’s criminal justice system was central to the critical and pressing matter of all prosecutions, especially prosecution of corruption cases and safeguarding  public purse.

“You hold a senior position with influence over a large swathe of the NPA.

“It is the interest of NPA’s image as a whole that I consider here, and of the integrity of an enquiry that must result in the clearest and most convincing conclusions about the integrity, and sound leadership of the NPA,” Ramaphosa said.

The inquiry will not take the form of a judicial inquiry or a commission of inquiry; instead it is an internal process expected to advise the president on the fitness of the two senior officials to hold high office in the NPA, according to the Presidency.

The NPA, a critical law enforcement institution, has been devoid of an effective leadership since August this year when the Constitutional Court declared invalid and unconstitutional the appointment of Shaun Abrahams as head of the NPA by then president Jacob Zuma.

Abrahams has been accused of inaction to prosecute those involved in alleged corruption scandals, including Zuma.

The court directed Ramaphosa to appoint a new NPA head within 90 days.

Ramaphosa has appointed an advisory panel to identify and conduct interviews with individuals worthy of consideration to occupy the position of the NPA head.

The panel convened for the first time earlier this week and is expected to submit shortlisted names to Ramaphosa by Dec. 7 this year.

In a similar development, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation on Thursday urged the South African National Assembly to approve the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The approval of the treaty will reinforce and promote South Africa as a responsible producer, possessor and trader of military items and advanced technologies in the nuclear, biological and chemical fields, the committee said in a statement.

The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation presented the treaty to the National Assembly on Wednesday.

The treaty is in line with the country’s disarmament policies, domestic legislation and international obligations, the committee said.

“Nuclear weapons pose an existential threat to humanity. Once approved by the House, the treaty will contribute to Outcome 11 in the medium-term strategic framework of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

“This is aimed at creating a better South Africa and contributes to a better and safer Africa in a better world,” Committee Chairperson, Siphosezwe Masango, said.

The committee believes that the treaty will also form part of the country’s strategic focus to commit to multilateralism and a rules-based international order, in which adequate attention is paid to all global threats facing humanity, said Masango.

Passed on July 7, 2017 by the UN General Assembly, the treaty, also known as the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of leading towards their total elimination.

In order for the treaty to come into effect, signature and ratification by at least 50 countries is required.

For those nations that are party to it, the treaty prohibits the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as assistance and encouragement to the prohibited activities.

South Africa has already been a signatory of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons since 1991. (Xinhua/NAN)