Pretoria - Robert McBride has blamed the downward spiral of the country's law enforcement agencies on Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko, after charges of fraud were withdrawn against him.
After a protracted legal battle, the high court in Pretoria on Wednesday withdrew charges against the head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) and his two co-accused, Matthew Sesoko and Innocent Khuba.
The charges relate to the alleged amending of a report into illegal deportation of Zimbabwean murder suspects in 2010. This was allegedly done to absolve the former head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Anwa Dramat, of wrongdoing.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said about the charges: “The prosecution team, after consultation with witnesses in preparation for trial, established that the State will not be able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, hence the withdrawal of the charges.”
McBride said he was vindicated, and lashed out at Nhleko.
“I was never in doubt as to which way it would go because if you recall, I’ve always rubbished the allegations.
“But I would like to say the (police) minister should have never second-guessed our report and should never have interfered in the operational running of Ipid,” McBride told Xolani Gwala on 702.
“And now we’ve seen that under the minister we’ve had the Hawks dismantled and you have this Gestapo-like unit that’s there. Sars has been taking blows and so has Ipid... So the issue is where does the accountability start?”
A public spat recently erupted between Nhleko and the Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete. Nhleko accused Mbete of “behaviour which negates the severity of this matter”, after Parliament declined to hold an inquiry into claims involving McBride. The spat exposed the growing rifts in the ANC.
On Tuesday, McBride questioned why they were charged in the first place and alleged that it was all part of a plan to weaken the corruption-busting institutions.
“The Hawks, Sars and Ipid are the main anti-corruption institutions in the country. Why were they attacked?
“We know that the rendition allegations are absolute nonsense and we have said it from the beginning. If there was no evidence against us, why did the NPA decide to prosecute?
“I’ve said earlier that there’s collusion between certain elements in the NPA and certain elements in the Hawks. And their collusion is about disrupting and dismantling the capability to fight against corruption. Again, why?”
McBride said he did not celebrate his court victory as he was catching up on his work.
His suspension by Nhleko was ruled invalid in September. “In the past 17 to 18 months there could have been cases we investigated,” he added.
The Star