JOHANNESBURG, September 6 (ANA) – The Constitutional Court on Tuesday ruled that Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhkeko’s decision to suspend Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride was invalid and was as a result set aside.
The court ordered parliament to decide within 30 days whether they wanted to discipline McBride. It also ordered Nhleko to pay the legal costs, including the costs of two counsels, incurred by McBride in the matter.
Nhleko suspended McBride as head of Ipid early last year and preferred a charge of defeating the ends of justice against him.
McBride was accused of tampering with an IPID report into whether the former head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat, was involved in the illegal rendition of Zimbabweans accused of murder in their country.
In December, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that the laws that had allowed Nhleko to suspend McBride unilaterally were unconstitutional. As a result the court suspended its order pending the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the matter.
McBride was suspended in March 2015, as part of the fall-out in the investigation into the illegal deportation of five Zimbabweans wanted for the murder of a policeman in Bulawayo in that country.
This year in March, McBride, Matthew Sesoko and Innocent Khuba appeared in the High Court in Pretoria facing charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice following their investigation of Dramat in the rendition matter. The trio are all out on bail of R1,500 each.
During the hearing, lawyer Tembeka Nguckaitobi, from Nhleko’s legal team, said the court had to make a call on whether the police minister made a good decision based on the evidence that was presented to him.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said Nhleko could not object to a 30-day period or say he didn’t know how long he would need.
Nguckaitobi said if McBride was allowed to return to his position after the 30-day period there was a risk he would interfere witnesses who work at IPID.
Justice Chris Jafta said that Nhleko had the option to inform the court that the process was in Parliament and he needed to be granted an extension due to the fear of interference
Nhleko’s team later revealed that they had received a call informing them that the police minister was requesting a 90-day extension because Parliament was on a recess and was only dealing with “urgent mattersâ€.
On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court confirmed the order of the high court that the suspension of the Ipid head by the police minister was unlawful. It also ordered parliament to “cure the defects in the legislation within 24 monthsâ€.
After the ruling, McBride, who was visibly pleased with the judgement, said he was thankful to the people who had supported him through his constitutional challenge.
“The court has confirmed the independence of Ipid and the principles are firmly established and Ipid can now do its work without fear, favour or prejudice,†he said.
– African News Agency (ANA)
