Parliament, Cape Town - The new acting boss of South Africa’s police watchdog on Thursday assured MPs that he was working hard to ensure the work of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) was not affected by a change in management.
Briefing Parliament’s portfolio committee on police, acting Ipid executive director Israel Kgamanyane said he has been travelling to the provinces to encourage staffers to support him following the suspension of Robert McBride last month.
“It’s human nature [that] as and when there are charges it takes time for people to accept change, but it’s how you manage that particular organisation…,” said Kgamanyane – who was seconded from the Ipid in Free State.
“When it comes to loyalty there are only three issues one has to be loyal to. The one is your work. The second one is to the organisation and the third one is to the country.”
He added he was more than qualified to do the job having been with Ipid since 1997.
“I’ve went through all the ranks in Ipid, including middle management, including senior management,” said Kgamanyane.
Asked whether he was properly vetted, Kgamanyane said he’d been subjected to the State Security Agency vetting process four times, which included polygraph tests.
Kgamanyane was appointed last month shortly after police minister Nathi Nhleko suspended Robert McBride.
McBride’s suspension was to last 60 days while an investigation into his handling of a probe into senior Hawks officials Anwar Dramat and Shadrack Sibiya over the 2010 rendition of Zimbabwean nationals was being done.
Allegations that Mcbride stole a memory stick which could implicate him, Dramat, and Sibiya was also under investigation.
Hawks head Dramat has since negotiated his exit from the police which was with effect from March 31.
ANA