Johannesburg - Investigations into reports that national police commissioner Riah Phiyega allegedly tipped off an officer about probes against him have been completed, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said on Tuesday.
Initially, spokesman Moses Dlamini had told Sapa that the report was sent to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) at the end of May for a decision, but he later corrected his statement.
“The recommendation report has not yet been sent to the DPP.
“The report will be sent to the DPP once it has gone through all internal processes.”
He said the Ipid had received several queries about what the next step was after the investigations were completed, and he thought the report had already gone through the internal process.
According to reports, Phiyega told Western Cape commissioner Lt-Gen Arno Lamoer on three occasions that she was aware he was under investigation.
In October last year, reports claimed that their telephone conversations had been legally recorded by crime intelligence operatives monitoring Lamoer's calls.
He was allegedly associated with a Cape Town drug-dealer and well-known businessman.
In the conversations, Phiyega reportedly made Lamoer aware of similar allegations by Hawks boss Anwa Dramat.
According to the report, the disclosures outraged crime intelligence operatives, who had threatened to lay criminal charges against Phiyega.
But Phiyega at the time denied tipping Lamoer off, saying he had become aware of the investigation after the opposition Democratic Alliance asked a question about it in Parliament.
Phiyega also said it was “interesting” that the allegations against her surfaced from “faceless people” shortly after her decision to put former acting crime intelligence boss Maj-Gen Chris Ngcobo on special leave.
Ngcobo was placed on special leave in October after a vetting process allegedly found discrepancies in his qualifications.
Sapa