Former Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride has expressed strong confidence in the credibility of suspended deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya.

However, he characterised KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, former acting national police commissioner Lt-Gen Khomotso Phahlane and police ministry chief of staff Cedrick Nkabinde as lacking integrity.

McBride made these assertions during his appearance before parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations of corruption in the criminal justice system on Wednesday.

This comes as McBride faces accusations of colluding with private forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan to target senior police officials.

During cross-examination, MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe questioned McBride on the credibility of several top-ranking officers:

Shongwe: Do you trust Sibiya?

McBride: In what sense?

Shongwe: Is he a credible officer?

McBride: From what I know, he is.

Shongwe: Mkhwanazi?

McBride: From what I know, he has interfered in Ipid investigations. Perhaps in certain aspects he is, but generally, he is not credible.

Shongwe: Nkabinde?

McBride: The whole world can see Nkabinde … even the committee sent him home to fix his evidence statement. He is certainly not credible.

Shongwe: Phahlane?

McBride: Absolutely not.

McBride accused Mkhwanazi of actively interfering in Ipid’s work. He alleged that while Mkhwanazi was stationed within the SAPS human resources department, he played an “undue and prosecutorial role” in attempting to scuttle corruption investigations into Phahlane.

“He is in HR, yet he is involving himself in investigations,” McBride said.

“He put pressure on Ipid investigator Mandla Mahlangu not to get involved in an investigation, despite that being Mandla’s job. In my opinion, those are voluntary actions that directly affect the integrity of investigations and constitute defeating the ends of justice.”

Regarding Phahlane — who has previously accused McBride of leading a campaign to block his permanent appointment — McBride detailed several Ipid probes into alleged systemic corruption.

He defended the formation of the “Phahlane task team”, which critics claim was created to target the former commissioner, stating it was established solely to investigate legitimate complaints.

DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach asked McBride whether Phahlane used his position to fight crime or to enrich himself.

McBride responded: “I didn’t see any evidence of him being committed to fighting crime or making an impact. In my opinion, he was mainly interested in tenders.”

He added that he believed he would have performed better as police commissioner than Phahlane did.

In previous testimony, Nkabinde claimed he was suspended in 2018 shortly after submitting a whistleblower report to McBride. He alleged that McBride pressured him into a settlement agreement, forcing his resignation in exchange for dropping disciplinary charges.

My view is that the decision was to get rid of [Anwa] Dramat, and Sibiya was caught in the middle because someone had a bone to pick with him. We were the ones who refused to recommend prosecution.

—  Former Ipid head Robert McBride

McBride dismissed these claims as “lies”.

“The first lie was that I suspended him,” McBride stated. “That is not true. Nkabinde was suspended by his supervisor in KwaZulu-Natal. His suspension had nothing to do with me.”

McBride defended Sibiya, maintaining that the former Hawks boss was “framed” in the controversial 2010 Zimbabwean rendition case. McBride asserted that the case resulted from “connivance” between the minister’s office and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to remove officers who had crossed powerful figures, such as former Crime Intelligence head Richard Mdluli.

“It is clear there was connivance between the minister’s office and the prosecuting authority,” McBride said. “My view is that the decision was to get rid of [Anwa] Dramat, and Sibiya was caught in the middle because someone had a bone to pick with him. We were the ones who refused to recommend prosecution.”