Parliament – Acting police chief Khomotso Phahalane and police watchdog head Robert McBride are to be summoned to Parliament next week to respond to claims of interference in investigations against police officers.
In a statement released on Wednesday, police portfolio committee chairman Francois Beukman expressed concern over reports that members of the SA Police Service (Saps) have been interfering in some high-profile investigations by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (IPID). Ipid is tasked with probing complaints against Saps members.
McBride, the Ipid head, made allegations of interference during a meeting of the committee last week.
“Ipid was established in terms of Section 206 (6) of the Constitution to investigate any alleged offence or misconduct by a member of the service. As such, any unlawful interference in the investigations of the Ipid cannot be tolerated,” said Beukman.
“In terms of the oversight role of this committee, it is essential that we are kept abreast of developments in this regard. We also need assurances from SAPS that there is no deliberate attempt to undermine the constitutional mandate of Ioid.”.