Limpopo - The police ministry says acting head of the Hawks Major-General Berning Ntlemeza will not be suspended despite an investigation against him.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is probing Ntlemeza for allegedly defeating the ends of justice.
It is believed that while he was Limpopo’s deputy police commissioner, he had protected a police captain who was accused of abusing state resources.
Fraud and corruption charges have been opened against the ex-policeman, who has since been fired from the police service.
Ipid confirmed on Tuesday that it was investigating Ntlemeza but declined to divulge details.
On Wednesday, Police Ministry spokesman Musa Zondi said there was no reason to suspend him.
Ntlemeza was elevated to head the police’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, in December by Police Minister Nathi Nhleko.
The minister suspended former Hawks head Anwa Dramat after he allegedly illegally sent suspected criminals to Zimbabwe for police interrogation in that country. Some of the men either died or disappeared after their arrival in Zimbabwe.
In March, Nhleko suspended Ipid head Robert McBride after the police watchdog issued two contradicting reports about the rendition. The first report implicated Dramat but the second one cleared him.
Nhleko appointed law firm Werksmans to probe the discrepancies. The law firm’s report has recommended that Dramat and Gauteng Hawks boss Major-General Shadrack Sibiya, who Ntlemeza suspended, be charged with kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice relating to the illegal rendition.
McBride has been found to have altered findings of the initial report, therefore clearing Dramat and Sibiya of wrongdoing.
This week, Nhleko told Parliament’s portfolio committee on police that McBride would face a disciplinary panel next Thursday.
The Star