Staff Reporter
Former Ipid head Robert McBride continued his testimony on Monday at the State Capture Inquiry.
McBride asserted that he stands by his decision on the second report of the Zimbabwe Rendition case, in which he said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute then Hawks boss Anwa Dramat and former Gauteng Hawks commander Shadrack Sibiya.
The case in question alleged that Dramat and Sibiya were involved in the deportation of five Zimbabweans living in South Africa in 2010 for their alleged involvement in the death of a Zimbabwean police official. They later died while in police custody in Zimbabwe.
McBride said the initial report lacked sufficient evidence against both Sibiya and Dramat, and he commissioned a second report by Ipid recommending no charges be levelled against the two.
“The provision of some standard operating procedures was abused to prematurely close cases or to bring them to finality, so it could appear that Ipid has gone through all these cases at rapid speed. Key investigations suddenly stagnated,” said McBride about the handling of cases at Ipid before he became the head.
Last week McBride told the inquiry that cellphone evidence did not place Sibiya at any of the crime scenes.
Despite his findings, then Minister of Police Nathi Nhleko suspended Dramat and Sibiya, citing evidence from Ipid’s report. McBride said he believed Nhleko ignored Ipid’s new findings and did not understand the independence of Ipid as an anti-crime institution.
McBride was fired in 2015, but fought his dismissal through the courts, at which point the Constitutional Court found his dismissal to be invalid.
The commission further heard that R17-million of tax payers’ money was spent fighting McBride in court on the Zimbabwe Rendition case. McBride says he paid for his own legal fees, in the labour court and Constitutional court, and never received payment back despite winning the case.
The commission continues.
