Robert McBride in dock: What game are the Hawks playing?

If former Limpopo IPID head Innocent Khuba knew what he was getting into by investigating the illegal rendition of Zimbabweans, he would never have done it.

“I shiver to the core of my spine because I just realised that I investigated a case which was so politically charged to an extent that certain outcome[s] were needed,” Khuba writes in a court affidavit.

Along with suspended IPID head Robert McBride and IPID national investigations leader Matthews Sesoko, Khuba appeared in court on Wednesday, charged with fraud and defeating the ends of justice. They are accused of removing evidence between drafts from reports on the illegal rendition of Zimbabweans. Khuba's affidavit suggests Hawks leader Mthandazo Ntlemeza conspired against his predecessor while his unit is trying to hound McBride at the behest of political principals.

In 2012, acting IPID executive director Koekie Mbeki asked him to investigate the illegal rendition of five Zimbabweans who in 2010 were taken across the border with forged deportation papers. Two of the Zimbabweans died in custody in Zimbabwe, one was allegedly tortured and another disappeared.

According to Khuba, who was investigating the Cato Manor “Death Squad” at the time, the IPID investigation was flawed from the start. Mbeki instructed him to work with a Crime Intelligence colonel. This was “unusual and problematic”. Crime Intelligence had been involved in arresting the Zimbabweans before they were illegally deported and Khuba was told to keep secret their involvement in the investigation. He was also instructed not to work with Sesoko, who as head of IPID investigations would normally be informed about such cases. It was the first such instruction he'd received in 16 years of working in the department.

His “worst fear about the arrangement” in working with Crime Intelligence and National Prosecuting Authority advocates was confirmed when the Sunday Times published details of the docket in 2013. To find the source of the leak, he wanted everyone polygraphed, but nothing happened. He was told by the Crime Intelligence colonel he shouldn't be concerned because his boss and Minister Nathi Mthethwa weren't, and no one would ask him about it. They didn't.

Khuba knew Mthandazo Ntlemeza, the current Hawks boss who was previously Limpopo's deputy police commissioner, who came to his house in October 2013. Ntlemeza had previously offered information about the case and surprised him by saying former Crime Intelligence chief Richard Mdluli was looking out for his interests; he shouldn't be scared. Ntlemeza asked when he would submit his report on the rendition.

“He said my report was the one holding everything regarding his move to the Hawks. I spoke to my wife saying that by accepting the request to investigate the rendition case, I do not know what I got myself into.” He tried to get off the case but was denied.

When the pair last met, in December 2014 after the rendition report was submitted, Ntlemeza said his “political principals” had approved his move to the Hawks. “He said that his time to move to the Hawks had arrived and that there was going to be a hit on Dramat. He encouraged me to watch the news on TV in the next coming weeks. What he told me happened exactly as he said.”

Dramat was suspended that December for his role in the renditions and later resigned, taking a payout after long-running legal battles. Ntlemeza was appointed acting Hawks head, taking the official job when Dramat resigned, despite a judge saying he is biased and lacks integrity.

“Every time when I think about what I got myself into by accepting this task, it gives me nightmares. I fear for my personal safety because members of the Hawks had already made advances, asking me to make a statement that implicates McBride and Sesoko in order to be reinstated into my position,” says Khuba's affidavit. “It seems as I am viewed as the only gate to deal with McBride and it kills me with fear. Who knows what is next for me, I am really afraid. These are the most powerful people in the country and it seems as my life is at their mercy. I spend sleepless nights thinking of the worst.”

Speaking outside court on Wednesday, McBride slammed the Hawks.

“There is a conspiracy, the decision to move Dramat out of office was taken long before Dramat was even issued the notice to suspend,” he said. “The fact that a number of attempts were made, at least four, to Mr Khuba to falsely implicate myself and Mr Sesoko is an indication of the level to which members of the Gestapo wing of the Hawks can stop.”

While Dramat and Gauteng Hawks boss Shadrack Sibiya were suspended and charged on the basis of Khuba's original report, Khuba says that report didn't go through the proper sign-off processes and an updated version cleared Dramat and Sibiya after it included new evidence. Khuba, McBride and Sesoko are accused of altering the report to protect the Hawks pair.

The allegations that Ntlemeza and Mdluli engineered the exit of Dramat come as the Hawks leader is pressuring the finance minister to respond to questions on the SARS “rogue unit”, which Gordhan has hinted is part of a push to destabilise the economy and capture financial institutions.

Offering advice to Gordhan, McBride said, “I think based on the fact that we have been charged for doing our work, I would just suggest that the minister of finance be very careful how he handles issues with them.”

The Hawks have also been involved in highly political cases recently such as those regarding DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach, allegations that pilots are trying to sabotage SAA, and KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Johan Booysen.

“Mr Zuma wants people in top posts who will do his bidding and help him undermine the law. Major-General Ntlemeza's appointment therefore raises many grave questions,” said Cope's Dennis Bloem on Wednesday after the party laid charges of perjury against Ntlemeza. When the police minister last year delayed providing the shortlist of candidates for the Hawks top job, the DA said it was a clear sign Ntlemeza was appointed to protect the president's allies.

The Hawks were not speaking on the allegations against their boss on Wednesday and Khuba and McBride's claims still have to be tested in court, which have been postponed for a month. If they're true however, Khuba's final statement seems prophetic: “It is clear that sometimes no matter how hard one try (sic) to choose a path, some paths chooses us.” For those on the wrong side of the ruling faction, that path could be a long, drawn-out court battle. DM

Photo: Robert McBride is seen at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg on Thursday, 30 September 2010 during an appeal by the Citizen newspaper against an award of damages and defamation granted to him. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA