Top cops told to halt Mdluli probe

2012-05-17 08:30

Johannesburg - An instruction to halt the investigation into former crime intelligence head Lieutenant General Richard Mdluli came from police bosses, according to newspaper reports on Thursday.

The order to stop investigating Mdluli was given by Hawks boss Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat on February 13, according to a report by Hawks detective Colonel Kobus Roelofse which was filed in the South Gauteng High Court on Tuesday, and quoted in City Press and The Star.

Roelofse says acting police chief Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi gave Dramat the instruction.

The report, which was originally addressed to the commander of the anti-corruption task team, was part of an interdict application by rights group Freedom Under Law (FUL).

FUL, represented by former World Bank director Dr Mamphela Ramphele, is asking the court to interdict Mdluli from performing any policing duties. It also wants the decision to withdraw murder and fraud charges against him to be reviewed.

Interference

In the report Roelofse says the level of interference in the investigation had reached a level where it was necessary to instigate a legal process.

He says the report could “be converted into an affidavit as the contents herein are true and correct”.

According to Roelofse, Major General Solly Lazarus, finance head of the police’s crime intelligence division, also attempted to “influence” ANC MP Cecil Burgess into dismissing the Hawks' Mdluli investigation. Burgess is chairperson of Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence.

Lazarus further tried to conceal evidence that he allegedly abused the crime intelligence slush fund, Roelofse states.

- SAPA