Robert McBride meddled in procurement processes at IPID - Public Protector report

Johannesburg - Former Independent Investigative Directorate (IPID) boss Robert McBride reportedly meddled in procurement processes at the institution during his tenure.

In several reports released on Wednesday by the office of the Public Protector, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane found, among other things, that the appointment of Theresa Botha as the Deputy Director in the national specialised investigations team (NSIT) was irregular.

According to Mkhwebane, a complaint was lodged in June last year by Cedrick Nkabinde, who also worked for the organisation.

It is believed that when former NIST head Emily Motsogi left IPID in 2017, the post was advertised and Nkabinde applied for the post as he qualified. Several days later, the same post was readvertised and adjustments were made to suit Botha who was later appointed despite not having the necessary qualifications.

"The IPID changed and manipulated the requirements of the list of a deputy director NSIT in order to suit Ms Botha without any job evaluation process being conducted by a job analyst. As a result, the complainant and other qualifying candidates were disadvantaged and prejudiced by maladministration and nepotism," said Mkhwebane.

She added that the matter was escalated to the Presidency, which in turn sent a report to McBride.

"The report by advocate Moloko (in The Presidency) had adverse findings implicating IPID senior officials in wrong doing in connection with the appointment of Ms Botha. However Mr McBride held on to the report and failed to implement its recommendations," Mkwebane added.

In another adverse finding against IPID, Mkhwebane established that the organisation had appointed Fidelity Security Services for purposes of providing it with an investigative analyst for the interpretation of cellular and other data criminal investigations.

Mkhwebane found that IPID had equally failed to follow proper procurement processes in this regard.

Other reports released by Mkhwebane on administration and procurement matters included provincial and municipal offices also failing to follow due processes.

She said the releasing of her reports comes at a time when her office is in the middle of a countrywide roadshow which seeks to highlight the work of the executive cabinet, how the President, Deputy and ministers, premiers and MECs ought to conduct themselves and uphold the executive code of ethics.

Political Bureau