Johannesburg - Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko on Tuesday, noted the Constitutional Court judgment stating that his decision to suspend Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride was invalid and was set aside.
“The Minister of Police, Mr Nkosinathi Nhleko has noted the judgment delivered today (Tuesday) at the Constitutional Court regarding the challenge over the powers to suspend the Independent Police Investigation Directorate executive director,” the police ministry said in a statement.
“The minister is reflecting on its implications. It must be noted that the court made a judgment on the procedural aspects of the case and not on the merits of the allegations against Mr Robert McBride.”
The Constitutional Court ordered parliament to decide within 30 days whether they wanted to discipline McBride. It also ordered Nhleko to pay the legal costs, including the costs of two counsels, incurred by McBride in the matter.
Nhleko suspended McBride as head of Ipid early last year and preferred a charge of defeating the ends of justice against him.
In December, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that the laws that had allowed Nhleko to suspend McBride unilaterally were unconstitutional. As a result the court suspended its order pending the Constitutional Court's ruling on the matter.
McBride was suspended in March 2015, as part of the fall-out in the investigation into the illegal deportation of five Zimbabweans wanted for the murder of a policeman in Bulawayo in that country. McBride was accused of tampering with an Ipid report into whether the former head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat, was involved with the deportation.
In March this year, McBride, Matthew Sesoko and Innocent Khuba appeared in the High Court in Pretoria facing charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice following their investigation of Dramat in the rendition matter.
The trio are all out on bail of R1 500 each. On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court confirmed the order of the high court that the suspension of the Ipid head by the police minister was unlawful.
It also ordered parliament to “cure the defects in the legislation within 24 months”.
After the ruling, McBride, who was visibly pleased with the judgement, said he was thankful to the people who had supported him through his constitutional challenge. “The court has confirmed the independence of Ipid and the principles are firmly established and Ipid can now do its work without fear, favour or prejudice,” he said.
African News Agency