The Mokgoro inquiry has heard that the then-Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Nomgcobo Jiba and the then-Crime Intelligence Boss Richard Mdluli may have flown together to Durban in 2010, with the tickets paid for by the crime intelligence slush fund, the Secret Service account.

This information is contained in an affidavit by Colonel Kobus Roelofse that has been submitted to the inquiry. 

On Friday, Roelofse testified before the inquiry, which has been tasked with establishing whether suspended deputy prosecutions boss Jiba and suspended special director of public prosecutions Lawrence Mrwebi are fit for office.

Roelofse was appointed to investigate Mdluli in 2011.

He told the inquiry that, during his investigations, he was informed that Mdluli's family members had flights paid for by the account. 

Following a search of the premises of a travel agent, Roelofse said he had managed to get a number of documents, but testified that the travel agent had been tipped off by a member of Crime Intelligence that he would be searched by officials. 

"I was given a bundle of documents, which consisted of these invoices. On these invoices, the name appeared [Nomgcobo Jiba]," Roelofse told the inquiry.  

The Crime Intelligence member also told the travel agent that he had to remove certain names from the invoices. 

"Incidentally this [Jiba's name] wasn't one of the names he was asked to take off."

Agent SA71

Roelofse was able to identify that one of the tickets purchased, using the State Security Agency (SSA), was used by Jiba. 

Other documents revealed that the ticket was meant for an agent named SA71. However, Roelofse told the inquiry that he had confirmed that he knows the identity of agent SA71, and that it was not Jiba. 

He then subpoenaed SAA for passenger records and found that they indicated that both Mdluli and Jiba were on the flight. 

"I was provided with screen printouts of the e-tickets as provided by SAA. They were not seated together. Mdluli was in business and Jiba was in economy." 

Roelofse also relayed this information to a whistleblower, who provided information about Mdluli on the flight. 

"He indicated that he was aware that Jiba from the NPA flew with Mdluli to Durban to see someone from the ANC. He advised me that the SSA paid for Jiba's flight." 

Roelofse concluded that, based on the information he had gathered, that it was Jiba. 

However, Jiba's lawyer Zola Majavu, during cross-examination, attempted to poke holes in Roelofse's assertions. 

'She was not on that flight on that day'

Majavu argued that, while one of the documents identified a Jiba, it was a male and that the names were spelt wrong. 

"You are wrong, the Jiba around which these documents centre is a Mr, whose name is spelt very differently to my client." 

He added that, following his enquiry at the Department of Home Affairs, there were two Jibas in the country with the exact same spelling of their first names and surnames, and that they were both females. 

"I am just stating the facts as I uncovered it," said Roelofse.

Majavu said Jiba had nothing to do with those flights and that she was highly upset and angered by these unsubstantiated allegations.

"I put to you further that she was not on that flight on that day. She never traveled on that day, she has no idea who traveled on that day and has nothing to do with that," said Majavu.

Roelofse said that the matter had been investigated further by another official, but that, when he enquired about it last year, he was informed that the original affidavit he had submitted with supporting documents had gone missing. 

The cross-examination of Roelofse is expected to continue on Monday and the inquiry will also hear the testimony of former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head General Johan Booysen.