Noko’s resignation became official last week when the Presidency announced that Cyril Ramaphosa had greenlit her request to vacate her position. NPA spokesperson, Sipho Ngwema, says an announcement with regards to Noko’s replacement in the North West office will be made in due course. Furthermore, Ngwema did not comment on who will be acting in the position in the interim. 

Noko stepped down from her position before she could be given the boot in the form of an inquiry into her fitness to hold office.

In November 2020, Ramaphosa granted Noko’s superiors, National DPP Shamila Batohi, as well as Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Ronald Lamola, their request to have her fitness to hold office probed. At the time of her resignation, Ramaphosa was due to send her a letter regarding her possible suspension pending the inquiry. Noko’s credibility came into question when she was still the Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal – a position she left in 2019 to go to the North West. She was slammed for dropping corruption charges against the politically connected businessman, Thoshan Panday, and senior police officers in the Fifa 2010 World Cup graft scandal.

The aforementioned decision was later overturned in 2016, by Batohi’s predecessor, Shaun Abrahams. The trial into the World Cup corruption is expected to get underway in May. Noko is reported to have called for the institution of racketeering charges against former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks’ head, Johan Booysen, and detectives of the Cato Mano and Port Shepstone organised crime units. These racketeering charges have since been discredited, notably in the ‘De Kock report’ which was compiled by an expert panel that sought to probe the authorisations of the case against Booysen by Advocates Jiba and Abrahams.

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