Police watchdog Ipid has welcomed the North Gauteng High Court decision to provisionally withdraw charges against former Hawks bosses Shadrack Sibiya and Anwa Dramat.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Moses Dlamini said they warned prosecutors that there was no case against the former head of the Hawks in Gauteng, Sibiya, and former Hawks head Dramat.

“The withdrawal today confirms what Ipid recommended in 2015 that there was no evidence against General Sibiya and General Dramat. [It also confirms that] this case was a total fabrication from crime intelligence, especially under General [Berning] Ntlemeza as well as the former minister of police. They are the ones who were behind this prosecution and pushed it when clearly there was no evidence.

“Also it is a scathing indictment against the NPA who should pursue prosecution without any fear or favour. In this case, there was no evidence but they continued to prosecute,” said Dlamini after the judgment.

On Monday, the North Gauteng High Court provisionally withdrew charges against Sibiya and Dramat after representation by their legal teams to the NPA. However, charges against the other accused in the matter, Lt-Col Lesley Maluleke, remain and he will return to court on November 12.

Sibiya and Dramat were facing charges of organised crime, kidnapping, violation of the Immigration Act and obstruction of justice following the extradition of five Zimbabweans wanted by police in that country.  

Prosecutor George Baloyi said the NPA was yet to receive Maluleke’s representation, hence the charges against him remained.

Earlier, Sibiya told Sowetan that he was disappointed that the NPA had not withdrawn the charges against him permanently. He said the provisional withdrawal kept a cloud hanging over his head.

Sibiya echoed Dlamini’s sentiment, saying that the NPA was relying on fabricated evidence.

“Prosecutors are sitting with manufactured evidence that is in the docket. If they are sitting with what I call manufactured evidence but they are not withdrawing the case permanently, what kind of justice is that.

“I still say that the prosecutors don’t have the intention to have this matter heard in court…The whole idea is not to prosecute us. It was just to remove us from office,” he said.

He added that the people behind the case were “a criminal gang operating within the criminal justice system”. He could not give names of who these were.

Sibiya is currently head of forensic investigations in the City of  Johannesburg.