No grounds to prosecute McBride, state found … but didn’t tell him

Evidence that charges against Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride for contravening the Interception of Communications Act for removing a device from the Hawks offices in 2015 were dropped has finally come to light.

The Citizen has had sight of a memorandum from the National Prosecution Service Priority Crimes Litigation Unit addressed to the Crimes Against the State division of the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation (the DPCI aka Hawks) dated 11 March, 2016, in which the prosecution of McBride was declined.

McBride stated he only became aware of the decision this week.

“This is yet more evidence of spurious charges and unlawful actions by the Hawks on the instructions of former Minister [Nkosinathi] Nhleko,” McBride said yesterday.

The device, known as a “data 6 device” was discovered by former Gauteng Hawks head Major General Shadrack Sibiya who, according to the memo, “had suspicions two officials from Crime Intelligence who visited the DPCI offices in Gauteng in Gauteng, where he was based prior to his suspension, were looking for a device which has recorded information that could include him in any wrongdoing”.

Sibiya subsequently asked Ipid to look into the matter, and McBride took the device from Sibiya and handed it over to his IT department.

Officials then took it to State Security, which determined it to be fax encryption device.

“It was clear the Ipid head had no intention to deprive the police of the equipment permanently; the idea was to pursue an investigation. There was no intention to defeat the ends of justice and to commit theft,” wrote the NPA’s acting special director of public prosecutions, Dr JP Pretorius.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has been approached for comment, which will be published at the earliest opportunity.

The charges came at a time when McBride was under investigation for purportedly altering a report into the rendition of five Zimbabweans.

The claim at the time was that Witness Ndeya, Shepherd Tshuma, Nelson Ndlovu and Maqhawe Sibanda were kidnapped by members of the Hawks and detained at the Orlando police station in Soweto in November 2010, before being handed over to Zimbabwean police at the Beitbridge border.

In the fallout after McBride submitted a second, official, report into the rendition that cleared Sibiya to Nhleko, McBride was suspended, Sibiya was fired, and then Hawks head Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat was allowed to resign.

This cleared the path for Nhleko to appoint Lieutenant General Mthandazo Ntlemeza to be appointed. Ntlemeza is currently fighting for reinstatement.