One of the last acts Robert McBride attended to as head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has been laid bare in a recent letter to newly-appointed National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi, urging her to fast track high-profile cases which he says were “singled out” by the police watchdog.

In the letter – which News24 has seen – McBride notes that he repeatedly appealed to former prosecutions boss Shaun Abrahams over two years to intervene in IPID cases that were not being prosecuted.

And now, the former IPID boss has officially questioned if Abrahams was “biased in dealing with IPID cases”.

McBride, whose contract as IPID boss expired on February 28, alleges that NPA officials were complicit in interfering in IPID cases.

News24 has seen correspondence between McBride, Abrahams and various IPID officials dating back to May 2017.

The correspondence is attached to a letter McBride wrote to Batohi. It is dated February 4, 2019.

IPID spokesperson Moses Dlamini confirmed the authenticity of the letter and correspondence, telling News24 that McBride wrote to Batohi requesting her to “review the irrational decisions of some of the NPA officials who singled out IPID cases against senior police officers and declined to prosecute where there was ample evidence”.

“This situation was allowed by former NDPP Advocate Shaun Abrahams, even after IPID raised its concerns with him,” Dlamini said.

In the revealing correspondence, totalling 101 pages including attachments, McBride appealed to Batohi to intervene in high-profile IPID cases and details how he repeatedly requested Abrahams to intervene when decisions were taken not to prosecute IPID cases.

He included responses from Abrahams, which reveal that the former NPA boss had looked at various issues raised by McBride, but found them unsubstantial.

(Source: News24)