Durban - A HIGH-ranking member of the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) has been cleared of having “corrupt relations” with a notorious Phoenix gang.
It was alleged that Lieutenant-Colonel Gavin Jacob was friends with the leaders of The Bloods gang, Kalvin and Kevin “Cheesy” Periasamy, and had sabotaged police investigations into the gang’s activities.
Jacob was attached to the Durban Organised Crime Unit and was a former section commander of the South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau.
He was moved from the unit last year, when the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) began to investigate his alleged “corrupt” relationship with the gang.
However, earlier this month, Ipid cleared Jacob of any wrongdoing because there was no evidence to support the allegations.
Jacques Botha, Jacob’s attorney, released a press statement this week, saying his client became the subject of negative media coverage after a confidential crime intelligence report was “leaked to the press” last year.
The report detailed allegations of Jacob’s interactions with The Bloods and how he interfered with the many charges the gang members faced.
Botha claimed that certain police officers who “clearly harboured ulterior motives to besmirch the standing of the law enforcer (Jacob)” leaked the report to the media.
He said this was their countermeasure to the affidavit made by Jacob in May 2018, for senior SAPS management.
In Jacob’s affidavit he names an allegedly corrupt group of police officials who were Hawks members.
In the affidavit, which the Sunday Tribune has seen, Jacob details how the corrupt policemen kept cosy relations with drug dealers, took bribes, shielded them and helped them perpetrate illegal activities.
He also claims that the drug lords and their associates were alerted to planned sting operations.
Moses Dlamini, Ipid’s spokesperson, confirmed the investigation into Jacob began in November and concluded in April.
“Allegations included corruption and defeating the ends of justice,” said Dlamini. He said Ipid had found no evidence to support the allegations.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) took the decision on June 14 not to prosecute Jacob.
A police source, who is not permitted to speak to the media, said one of the police officers implicated in Jacob’s affidavit was being investigated in connection with the death of Reegan Naidoo, who allegedly died in police custody in 2018.
The Ipid probe also revealed that some of the evidence raised against Jacob, which included submissions from Hawks members, was largely hearsay.
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, said it was protocol for Jacob’s matter to have been referred to Ipid for investigation.
“They are an independent entity and they don’t report to us. The other matters relating to Lieutenant-Colonel Jacob’s affidavit remain internal and they are receiving the necessary attention,” said Mulaudzi.
The NPA did not comment.