Court victory for former Hawks heads

Ilse de Lange

Criminal charges for the 2010 alleged rendition of four Zimbabweans to their home country were provisionally withdrawn against former national Hawks head Anwar Dramat and former Gauteng Hawks head Shadrack Sibiya yesterday.

Prosecutor George Baloyi informed the High Court in Pretoria that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had decided on this following Dramat and Sibaya’s representations. But he said the NPA would continue with the prosecution of former top policeman Lieutenant-Colonel Lesley “Cowboy” Maluleke.

Baloyi said the state would decide if the case against Dramat and Sibiya should proceed after Maluleke’s trial, which was provisionally postponed to November 12. His bail was extended.

The charges of kidnapping, violating the Immigration Act and obstructing justice stem from allegations that Dramat, Sibiya and Maluleke illegally handed over four Zimbabwean fugitives, wanted in connection with the murder of a police officer in Bulawayo, to Zimbabwean authorities.

Maluleke is facing three other charges relating to the alleged theft of items from the deportees.

Dramat was suspended and although the Helen Suzman Foundation successfully challenged his suspension in court, he did return to his position and resigned in 2015. Sibiya, who now heads the City of Joburg’s anticorruption unit, is still embroiled in litigation in the Labour Court over his dismissal.

Litigation over Sibiya’s suspension resulted in the courts severely criticising Dramat’s successor, Berning Ntlemeza, who was forced into early retirement after the court set aside his appointment.

Sibiya said he would have preferred the state to permanently withdraw the charges against him and Dramat as they were not involved in the renditions and had always said the evidence against them was manufactured.

Sibiya said they had been charged to get them ousted from their positions.

Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson Moses Dlamini said the provisional withdrawal of the case confirmed that Ipid had been correct in 2015 in recommending that Dramat and Sibiya should not be prosecuted.