Captain KGB, the brazen criminal cop

The directorate charged with investigating the police has trouble convicting the enemy within

In the past five years only 1% of the thousands of cases reported to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) have resulted in criminal prosecution. Many of the cases drag on for years, with a low case turnover and even fewer convictions.

One of the most glaring examples of this and police lack of oversight is Captain Morris “KGB” Tshabalala, who, with at least two criminal convictions, for armed robbery, masterminding a cash-in-transit heist and attempted murder, was able to work for crime intelligence and get the highest clearance in the police service.

But the Ipid also seems to have problems convicting officers for assault and torture, rape, corruption and murder. Last year the directorate reported it had received 216 complaints where a civilian had died as a result of police action. Also last year, the Ipid managed to convict 13% of the officers implicated in such cases.

According to the watchdog’s midyear statistics for 2017, the number of convictions is even lower.

Tshabalala is one of the many officers who have either committed crimes or are alleged to have done so, and yet neither the police service nor the police watchdog has ensured he is no longer part of the service.

The man, better known as “KGB”, became known to the police in 1994 when he was arrested for an armed robbery in Mamelodi, Tshwane.

After a lengthy court case Tshabalala was convicted of robbery and handed a 10-year sentence. Police records show that Tshabalala spent two weeks in prison before being released pending the outcome of his appeal. By 1998, when his appeals had failed, he had disappeared. Officially, the police service is still investigating.

According to crime intelligence sources, Tshabalala entered the police force in 2002.

“I knew this guy and I knew he was a criminal, but who am I to speak above the bosses who think he was the right guy for the job?” said a source who did not want to be named. “But I was shocked when, in less than a year, he was promoted to captain. He knew some high-up people and even though he didn’t have the experience he knew the right people.”

During his time in crime intelligence Tshabalala was given the highest clearances and worked on highprofile cases, including the foiled assassination attempt on President Jacob Zuma at the ANC’s Mangaung conference in 2012.

A year later Tshabalala was apparently back to his old tricks — heists.

He and five other accomplices were arrested in 2013 for allegedly robbing a cash-in-transit van carrying R3-million in Sasolburg, and attempting to murder one of the security guards. He was also being investigated for links to numerous other heists.

With his name and face splashed across newspapers and with another case to answer for, KGB was imprisoned to serve his 1996 sentence while his trial for the more recent heist continued.

South African Police Service, Hawks and National Prosecuting Authority officials told reporters at the time that a full investigation was being conducted to determine how Tshabalala had escaped from under their noses.

Last year, after serving less than three years at Sasolburg’s Groenpunt Correctional Centre, he walked free — straight back into his old job at the police service.

“He was back again. He was not an officer, but everyone knew he was back. But we mind our own business in there,” said a source.

All was quiet for a few months until R200-million in foreign currency was brashly stolen from Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport by a group of men driving a stolen police van and two smaller cars.

It has been widely speculated that KGB was the mastermind behind the heist and an investigation into his involvement is underway.

He was handed a suspension letter shortly after the news of the heist broke, according to sources in crime intelligence.

“The Ipid is currently conducting an investigation into various allegations in which Tshabalala may be implicated. Due to the sensitivity of the investigations, we cannot comment without jeopardising our investigations,” said Ipid spokesperson Moses Dlamini.

The police watchdog has repeatedly pointed to its limited resources — including only 165 investigators and an ever-decreasing budget — as a constraint to realising their mandate.

“The Ipid has never had sufficient resources from its establishment. In addition, our budget was cut over the past three years. With the resources we have, it is difficult to complete or finalise all investigations as swiftly as we would like to,” said Dlamini.

But finances are not the only problem. The KwaZulu-Natal Ipid ethics head, Amar Maharaj, this week told the Moerane Commission of Inquiry into political killings that the police watchdog was “dysfunctional”.

He said that hundreds of cases had been closed without proper investigation and that the officers who closed them were given bonuses for finalising cases.