McBride won’t make statement to Hawks
INDEPENDENT Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride will not be giving a warning statement to the Hawks‚ despite the elite unit insisting there is nothing out of the ordinary about the request.
Ipid‚ the police watchdog‚ said the request for McBride to give a statement by today is similar to how fraud charges were laid‚ and abruptly dropped‚ against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Ipid spokesman Moses Dlamini confirmed that the Hawks had requested McBride to provide the statement as part of its investigation into charges of defeating the ends of justice.
The request relates to two incidents which allegedly occurred while McBride was the chief of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department.
Dlamini said: “A few weeks ago‚ the Hawks approached Colonel Mannie Fourie to dig up any dirt against Mr McBride.
“In a recorded telephonic conversation‚ Colonel Fourie stated that the instruction came from the minister of police – which the minister denied in parliament‚” Dlamini said.
“The request by the Hawks to Mr McBride to give a warning statement today is a culmination of this campaign.
“This matter is 10 years old and was dealt with at that time.”
Dlamini said the Hawks were not acting in the interests of justice.
“The manner in which this matter is being pursued by the Hawks is similar to the way in which they pursued spurious and frivolous charges against the minister of finance‚ which the NPA had to withdraw abruptly,” he said.
“We believe that this latest action by the Hawks is related to Ipid having taken a warning statement from [Hawks head] General [Berning] Ntlemeza last week‚ during which he threatened that the Hawks would be taking statements against Ipid investigators.”
“Mr McBride has taken legal advice and‚ on that basis‚ will not be giving a warning statement to the Hawks‚” Dlamini said.
Meanwhile‚ Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said their request for a statement‚ was part of the normal process.