McBride to snub Hawks request to give warning statement

Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride will not be giving a warning statement to the Hawks.

Ipid‚ the police watchdog‚ said the request for McBride to give a statement by Monday is similar to how fraud charges were laid‚ and "abruptly" dropped‚ against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

Ipid spokesperson Moses Dlamini on Monday confirmed that the Hawks had requested McBride to provide the statement as part of its investigation into charges of defeating the ends of justice.

They relate to two incidents which allegedly occurred while McBride was the chief of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department.

In a statement‚ Dlamini said that‚ "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 added.

"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.

"We believe that this latest action by the Hawks is related to the 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."

Dlamini said the charge of defeating the ends of justice is not a priority crime that falls within the mandate of the Hawks‚ "yet they are devoting a lot of resources to pursue it".

"Mr McBride has taken legal advice and‚ on that basis‚ will not be giving a warning statement to the Hawks‚" he said.

Meanwhile‚ the the Hawks said their request for a warning statement‚ was part of the "normal process". The Hawks' spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi on Monday confirmed that the unit has asked Mc Bride to provide a warning statement regarding an investigation that is being conducted against him. Mc Bride faces charges of defeating the ends of justice‚ which relate to two incidents.

The first‚ according to EWN‚ relates to a nearly decade old attempted murder case‚ which happened in Boksburg‚ under the watch of McBride as Metro Police chief. The second matter McBride related to a probe which involves a BMW X5 which was allegedly reported stolen but later recovered by the metro‚ and apparently used by Metro Police officers in covert operations.

The two incidents are alleged to have taken place in 2006.

Mulaudzi said‚ "This is an investigation that was referred to us. It's normal process". "We have to get a statement from the so called accused person." Mulaudzi said if Mc Bride failed to give the statement‚ the Hawks would refer the matter to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Last week‚ McBride‚ was named alongside private investigator Paul O'Sullivan‚ former Gauteng Hawks head Shadrack Sibya and suspended crime intelligence agent Captain Candice Coetzee as being behind a political plot to assassinate high-ranking policing and government officials.

The four were allegedly planning to assassinate acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane‚ Hawks head Lieutenant-General Berning Ntlemeza‚ National Prosecuting head advocate Shaun Abrahams and newly appointed State Security Agency Director-General Arthur Fraser.

The endgame‚ their accuser‚ Gauteng Hawks head Major-General Prince Mokotedi‚ said last week was to incite a "popular revolt".

– TMG Digital