Investigation into Anwa Dramat a sham, state capture commission told

A 2014 investigation into former Hawks boss Anwa Dramat's alleged involvement in the illegal deportation of five Zimbabweans was a sham aimed "at getting rid" of him.

This is according to Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) Limpopo head Innocent Khuba who told the state capture inquiry on Thursday that the investigation into what later became infamously known as the "Zimbabwean rendition saga" was conducted to have Dramat replaced with Berning Ntlemeza.

Khuba was one of the Ipid officials who conducted the initial investigation.

He, along with former Ipid boss Robert McBride and Ipid head of investigations Matthews Sesoko, were suspended and charged for defeating the ends of justice in 2015 on allegations relating to the amendment of an internal Ipid report into the illegal deportation of Zimbabwean murder suspects in 2010.

That matter was widely seen as a political manoeuvre to have Dramat and his Gauteng commander Shadrack Sibiya removed.

Sibiya and Dramat both stood accused of planning and executing an operation that led to the illegal repatriation of five Zimbabweans wanted by that country's police for the murder of a senior officer.

Ipid's initial recommendations found that that the pair should be criminally prosecuted on charges of kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice. But after a review of all the evidence was concluded, McBride ruled differently and submitted a second report absolving Dramat and Sibiya.

"I could see that it seemed that the whole investigation was aimed at getting rid of Dramat. When I put [together] the pieces of the puzzle in terms of the wrong things that took place... I just realised that it seemed like the ultimate goal was to get rid of Dramat," Khuba said.

He recalled a meeting with Ntlemeza weeks before Dramat was placed on precautionary suspension in December 2014.

"He (Ntlemeza) said there is going to be a hit on Dramat; I must watch TV in the coming weeks. I took the information, as I always did, just to listen to him. And then after some weeks, what he told me came to pass. Dramat had been suspended and he (Ntlemeza) was appointed to act in his position," Khuba said.

"I saw something happen and I thought it was the hit he spoke about. There was the issue of the suspension of Dramat and he was appointed in his position. It happened exactly as he said."

The commission will hear other intelligence-related evidence on Friday.

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