Ipid evidence clearing Hawks bosses put target on me, claims McBride

Former Ipid head Robert McBride is testifying at the Zondo Commission about the Werksmans Attorneys report which probed Ipid's handling of the so-called Zimbabwe rendition investigation.

FILE: A screengrab of Robert McBride giving testimony at the state capture commission on 11 April 2019.

Barry Bateman | 214 days ago

JOHANNESBURG - Former Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride says there was a determined effort to get rid of Hawks bosses Anwa Dramat and Shadrack Sibiya, which is why he was targeted when Ipid found evidence that cleared the pair.

McBride is testifying on Monday at the Zondo Commission about the Werksmans Attorneys report which probed Ipid's handling of the so-called Zimbabwe rendition investigation.

A preliminary report had found a case for Dramat and Sibiya to answer to, however, a final report, with additional evidence, cleared the pair.

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Werksmans found against McBride and two senior Ipid investigators for making changes to the report.

McBride testified about the changes made to the renditions preliminary report and how new evidence was added to the docket but was seemingly not accepted by Werksmans in its investigation.

“The fact that there was additional evidence which was not factored in the first one and that the changes that were made to the report and not the evidence in the docket were lawful and were proper and were necessary also escapes all this range of lawyers in the process,” said McBride.

The former Ipid boss suspects he knows why the changes to the report were not accepted.

“If you put the sequence of events together there is a determination to find guilt or to find scapegoats so you can deal with the original aspect of getting rid of Dramat.”

McBride was criminally charged for altering the report but the matter was later withdrawn.

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