In a victory for suspended Independent Police Investigative Directorate head Robert McBride‚ the Constitutional Court on Tuesday found that the current provisions of the IPID Act undermined the directorate’s constitutionally guaranteed independence.
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It set aside the minister’s decision to suspend and take disciplinary action against McBride.
While it is expected that the Constitutional Court will reaffirm the High Court’s ruling to strike down several provisions of the Ipid Act, the focus will be on the status of McBride.
“It is declared that the decision of the minister of police to institute a disciplinary hearing against Mr McBride is invalid and set aside”.
Mcbride was suspended by Nhleko past year for allegedly tampering with a report by IPID on former Hawks boss Anwa Dramat and Hawks Gauteng head Shadrack Sibiya who were accused of being involved in the rendition of four Zimbabweans in 2010 and 2011.
In December, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that the laws that had allowed Nhleko to suspend McBride unilaterally were unconstitutional.
McBride did not believe they gave Nhleko the power to suspend him or remove him from office. 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 fallout in the investigation into the illegal deportation of five Zimbabweans wanted for the murder of a police officer in Bulawayo in that country.
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McBride said the Constitution did not allow Police Minister Nathi Nhleko to suspend or discipline him unilaterally without affording Parliament any role in this process.
