Plumb job for McBride
DIRECTOR: WILL OVERSEE SENSITIVE STATE SECURITY MATTERS AT AGENCY
Regarded as either a struggle hero or murderer who should be in jail for the Magoo’s Bar bombings.
Just when everybody thought Robert McBride was down and out, like a cat with nine lives he is back in business. His latest appointment by President Cyril Ramaphosa as director of the foreign branch of the State Security Agency confirms the belief of some observers that he will never be put down.
The new posting puts him in charge of sensitive state security matters at international level.
McBride was previously director in the foreign affairs department and while there recruited to work for the former National Intelligence Agency.
McBride’s return is seen as part of Ramaphosa’s plan to clean up the state security system, which became corrupted under Jacob Zuma. The appointment was also interpreted as a snub of Zuma, who let his police minister Nathi Nhleko harangue McBride for his anticorruption crusade in the police service.
There are contradictory descriptions of McBride – a hero who helped bring about democracy and freedom, or a villain who should be in jail for murder,
One thing’s for sure – not everybody in the ANC likes him and this, combined with the fact that he is hated by many whites for his involvement in the Magoo’s Bar bombing, has earned him foes on both sides of the racial divide.
In the process of his clandestine antigraft probe, he rubbed many of his ANC comrades up the wrong way and created many enemies within the organisation.
But he proved to be a tough nut to crack. Even during his infamous spat with Nhleko, a Zuma ally, many expected McBride to be down and out, but he landed on his feet, leaving Nhleko as the one to bite the dust.
Among his close associates was former SA Communist Party Gauteng treasurer and extrade unionist Ndzipho Kalipa, who said McBride’s fallout with some in the ANC stemmed from his unwavering stance against corruption.
This view was echoed by former Gauteng MEC for human settlements, Uhuru Moiloa, who also worked with McBride on the East Rand.
“Robert was a family man – he loved his wife and children and loved his country. He was a great patriot.
“Above all, Robert was anticorruption ... he is allergic to corruption. You will not be a friend of McBride if you like corruption. Whether it’s the former apartheid police, the present ones or his own comrades in the ANC, he will fight corruption where he sees it,” Moiloa said.
“He was very outspoken, very principled and never wanted to be shifted by factions in the ANC.
“He was solid and disciplined revolutionary who defended the constitution and the principles and values of the ANC in the democratic South Africa. He was disliked by many in the ANC who were involved in shenanigans,” Kalipa said.
Kalipa said McBride helped to restore the people’s trust in the ANC after he established self defence units to fight against Inkatha Freedom Party attackers in the early ’90s. –