FORMER police minister Nkosinathi Nhleko told the Zondo Commission that he acted in the interest of the law when he suspended heads of the Hawks and Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).
He said his decision to suspend former Hawks boss Anwa Dramat and former Ipid executive director Robert McBride was purely based on an employer and employee relationship.
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“I sometimes find it strange that even lawyers miss the point. In fact, the correct term in the public service context is precautionary suspension,” said Nhleko.
Dramat was investigated by Ipid for alleged illegal rendition of criminal suspects to Zimbabwe.
The Ipid produced two reports that reached different conclusions.
The 22 January 2014 report recommended that Dramat face criminal charges, while the 18 March report exonerated him.
Nhleko said he brought in Werksman Attorneys to investigate why there was “a disjuncture” between the two reports. This led to McBride’s suspension.
However, Nhleko said this did not mean there was a decision against the suspended people in relation to the alleged violation.
“It’s for the employer to establish facts. We were not investigating individuals. We were investigating a circumstance. In the process of the investigation, it then reveals players in the occurrence of a particular circumstance. It’s on the basis of which then a particular institutional process has got to take place.”
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He said he had misgivings when McBride alleged at the commission he sought to capture the justice cluster and was not asked how. “The allegations against myself are extremely serious because McBride said I captured the criminal justice cluster.
“ If you say that I have captured the criminal justice cluster you are then saying, as minister of police, I had power to decide on the issues of prosecutions, which is not true,” said Nhleko.
