Gauteng Hawks boss Major General Ebrahim Kadwa is being probed by the police watchdog Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) for defeating the ends of justice.
This was after he allegedly set free suspects arrested by the police for dealing in drugs, but instead he arrested the cops who nabbed the suspects and charged them with possession of drugs.
Ipid is also investigating former Gauteng Hawks acting head, Brigadier Sekemela Lewele, for the same alleged offence for his involvement in the drug bust conducted in June 2021.
News of their investigation came to the fore after Ipid wrote a letter to Lewele in which it wanted him to answer four probing questions about his alleged involvement in the operation.
In the letter, which Sunday World has seen, Ipid states that Samuel Mashaba, the acting deputy director of the Gauteng Department of Community Safety, received a tip-off on July 8, 2021, about the drugs that were being transported from Durban to Alberton, Gauteng.
A battalion of cops, including Mashaba, warrant officer Marumo Mogana, a member of the SAPS Crime Intelligence Unit and warrant officer Steve Pakula, a member of the Organised Crime Unit, conducted an operation that intercepted the truck that was transporting the contraband.
“The truck was then escorted to its destination at Aeroton, where the container was opened at the receiving bay.
“While searching the container, the drugs were found. The driver of the truck and the person who was to receive the whole cargo were placed under arrest,” reads the letter.
Ipid said that members of the dog unit later arrived on the scene together with members of the local criminal record centre, whose roles include collecting evidence ranging from taking photographs to removing spent cartridges or samples of bodily fluids left at a crime scene.
However, while still compiling the docket, Hawks members arrived at the scene, and the members who recovered the drugs were later arrested and charged with dealing in drugs on July 9, 2021, stated the letter.
Ipid stated in the letter that Mogana, Pakula and Mashaba were among those arrested.
“The driver of the truck and the person who was to receive the cargo were then released,” reads the letter.
After their arrest, the National Prosecuting Authority charged the accused with dealing in -dangerous dependence-producing substances (drugs) or possession of dangerous dependence-producing substances, fraud, and defeating the administration of justice.
However, on October 12, last year, the state withdrew the case before the Johannesburg High Court.
This was after the accused’s lawyers, BDK Attorneys, submitted representations to the deputy national director of prosecutions, to review the decision of the director of public prosecutions, Johannesburg, to charge the police and the businessman.
According to BDK Attorneys, who represented the then accused, a businessman was in his vehicle outside of the premises when he was arrested together with the police.
BDK Attorneys argued that the case against their clients was weak and that there were no prospects of a successful prosecution in the matter, and requested the DPP to reconsider their prosecution and withdraw the matter against them.
After the withdrawal of their case, a complaint was filed with the Ipid about Kadwa and Lewele’s handling of the case.
Ipid decided to investigate the complaint and sent a list of probing questions to Kadwa and Lewele to explain their roles in the botched drug bust.
Ipid demands that Lewele answer the questions about the role he played at the scene of the crime.
- “What was your role at the scene and throughout the entire investigation?
- “What happened to the truck driver who brought the drugs from Durban to Aeroton and the person who was going to receive the cargo?
- “Did you, at any stage, try to establish the owner of the alleged drugs and who was supposed to receive them at the warehouse in Aeroton?
- “Was the origin of the drugs ever established during your investigations?”
Ipid explained that Lewele was a person of interest in their investigation because, on November 27, 2023, Kadwa mentioned in his statement that he too attended the crime scene.
Sunday World understands that Kadwa has already sent his statement to Ipid, while Lewele was given a deadline of April 4, 2024, to submit his.
Hawks spokesperson Thandi Mbambo said: “The dealing in drugs case was provisionally withdrawn and is waiting DPP. The alleged counter charge against our members can be take up with Ipid.”
Ipid feigned ignorance about the investigation.
“I’m not aware of such an investigation, but even if there is such an investigation, we are not allowed to comment on an ongoing investigations,” said Ipid spokesperson Phaladi Shuping.
