Advocate Nomgcobo Jiba this week cemented her position as one of the most powerful people in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) – even, some critics argue, emerging as its de facto boss.

Shaun Abrahams, the 39-year-old prosecutor appointed by Jacob Zuma to succeed Mxolisi Nxasana as the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP), on Tuesday announced the withdrawal of perjury charges against her and a “reshuffle” of the NPA executive.

Although he refused to be drawn on the details, the NPA has not denied reports that Jiba has been appointed to lead a new division combining the National Prosecution Service and the National Specialised Prosecutions Service, which includes powerful agencies such as the Commercial Crime Unit.

This came despite a pending bid by the General Council of the Bar (GCB) to have her struck off the roll of advocates, a move that, if successful, would disqualify her from her current position.

Abrahams’s brazen action to bolster her power base also flies in the face of a court application by the nongovernmental organisations Corruption Watch and Freedom Under Law that seek to set aside the removal of Nxasana and declare Abrahams’s appointment invalid.

Corruption Watch’s director, David Lewis, told amaBhungane the decision tantamount to promoting her “cannot possibly be reasonably sustained”.

“It’s time to be really worried about the NPA,” Lewis said. “If you are a South African who is concerned about corruption and crime, you need to be really, really worried.”