Ipid tells AfriForum it will legally confront top cop Fannie Masemola’s ‘inaction’ over 2020 Kinnear murder

9 Jul 2024

In October, AfriForum wrote to police bosses asking why no police officers had been held to account in connection with events leading to the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear. Now the police watchdog says the ‘inaction’ will be dealt with legally.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) says it will follow legal processes to deal with “the inaction of the National Commissioner” over issues relating to the September 2020 assassination of Anti-Gang Unit detective Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear.

This is contained in a 5 July letter from Ipid’s executive director, Jennifer Dikeledi Ntlatseng, to Advocate Gerrie Nel, who heads AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit.

Based on the dates in the letter, the National Commissioner referred to appears to be Fannie Masemola.

The letter outlines the police watchdog’s stance on the Kinnear situation, which has been dragging on for nearly four years.

The circumstances surrounding his murder have been mired in controversy and there have been claims of cover-ups.

Two national commissioners

Kinnear was fatally shot outside his Cape Town home in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town on 18 September 2020.

He should have been under state protection at the time but was not.

Several police officers were found to have effectively failed Kinnear, but it is not clear whether they will face action for that.

Read more in Daily Maverick: The assassination of cop Charl Kinnear – three years of controversy and waiting for accountability

Based on Ipid’s letter from last week, Masemola is the second national police commissioner to face claims relating to inaction in the Kinnear saga.

On Tuesday, Daily Maverick sent questions about this to South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.

She replied that the matter “remains a priority for the National Commissioner. Due to [its] sensitivity … and the fact that this is the subject of pending critical proceedings ... the SAPS will therefore not be in a position to deliberate on this matter in the public domain.”

Masemola took over as national police commissioner in 2022 after Khehla Sitole was made to step down.

Ipid previously accused Sitole of failing to cooperate with its investigation into Kinnear, which he denied.

Daily Maverick reported in October that AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit was acting on behalf of Kinnear’s widow, Nicolette, on a pro bono basis.

Read more in Daily Maverick: AfriForum’s Gerrie Nel takes Charl Kinnear case, points to SAPS ‘cover-ups’ and failures

At the time, Nel had written a letter to SAPS bosses.

He said the letter dealt with “the absolute failure of the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to address those individuals within the SAPS whose conduct enabled the tragic assassination of Kinnear”.

Police watchdog response

In a response to Nel’s letter, Ipid last week said that soon after receiving a complaint about Kinnear’s assassination, it had assembled a task team and an investigation began in February 2021.

A preliminary report was given to former police minister Bheki Cele in October 2021.

Daily Maverick reported extensively on this preliminary report, with findings including that there was a “rogue unit” of police officers with ties to Crime Intelligence in the Western Cape.

Read more in Daily Maverick: SAPS threw Charl Kinnear to the wolves

The report also found that two Hawks members from Gauteng should be criminally charged and that national Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya’s conduct should be probed for an alleged failure to launch an investigation into the illegal monitoring of Kinnear in the run-up to his murder.

Ipid’s letter from last week said that departmental recommendations against “implicated members” were acknowledged by the national police commissioner in October 2021 — when Sitole was still the commissioner.

‘Non-cooperation’

The letter alleged that “the former National Commissioner did not cooperate with [the] Ipid investigation.

“Due to non-cooperation by the former National Commissioner, Ipid recommended that the Minister of Police consider referring the findings against [the] former National Commissioner to the President of the Republic of South Africa to enquire [about] his fitness to hold office.”

It was reported that at the end of 2021 Ipid lodged a criminal case against Sitole for failing to cooperate with an investigation into Kinnear’s murder.

In an official statement at the time, the SAPS denied the allegation.

It said: “On the contrary, the National Commissioner had referred an investigation associated with the murder of … Kinnear to Ipid for their investigation.

“The National Commissioner is therefore perturbed by allegations that a criminal case has been opened against him for having ‘failed to cooperate with the investigation’ which he had initiated as a ‘complainant’.”

A month after that statement was issued, it emerged in February 2022 that President Cyril Ramaphosa had terminated Sitole’s employment contract “in the best interests of the country”.

‘No feedback’

Masemola took over as national police commissioner at the end of March 2022 and a final report on Ipid’s investigation into the murder of Kinnear was approved in May that year.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Killing Charl Kinnear could collapse critical cop gun corruption cases

According to Ipid’s letter from last week, it had written “to the National Commissioner on 8 July 2022 for intervention requesting documents and the same was acknowledged” that day.

The National Commissioner referred to was presumably Masemola.

Ipid’s letter from last week said: “No feedback [was] received to date.”

The letter added: “The Ipid has resolved to utilise the provisions of Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act in an effort to obtain documents in possession of SAPS.

“The inaction of the National Commissioner in terms of the recommendations referred of the implicated officials will be taken through legal processes [sic].

“The Directorate will continue to exercise its constitutional mandate without fear, favour or prejudice. We will continue to pursue this matter until justice is finally served.”

Daily Maverick has reported that aside from Ipid’s preliminary and final findings into issues surrounding Kinnear, a lieutenant general compiled a report in 2023 that was partially based on Ipid’s final one.

In October, Masemola said he would be briefed on that report. However, it is not known what happened to the report.

At the time of his murder, Kinnear was investigating several organised crime cases and suspects that included fellow police officers.

Among those on trial in the Western Cape Division of the High Court in connection with Kinnear’s murder and issues surrounding it are organised crime accused Nafiz Modack and Ashley Tabisher, who was a policeman attached to the Western Cape’s Anti-Gang Unit of which Kinnear was a member. They have pleaded not guilty. DM

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South Africa

Two national commissioners

Police watchdog response

‘Non-cooperation’

‘No feedback’