ANC’s onslaught on McBride a sign of its fear of forthright behaviour
Former Ipid director finds himself with no friends in the governing party as his anti-corruption crusade riles his party comrades
You know you’re living in interesting times when so many ingrained habits are upended. Astonishingly, ANC MPs on the parliamentary portfolio committee on police have crudely savaged Robert McBride to block him from remaining as director of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), the police watchdog. Up to now, McBride has been lauded for taking on corrupt cops, despite blatant harassment, so this volte-face smells horribly fishy. He is, undeniably, controversial. In the past, due to his record as an Umkhonto weSizwe operative, he was reviled by most whites and backed to the hilt by the ANC. Suddenly, in a bizarre reversal, he is supported by the DA while attacked by ANC committee members with incoherent smears. The fact is that McBride, whatever you think of him, has sacrificed more for the ANC than all those party hacks who slandered him. Exposing corruption in the police is a tough job the world over, as many Hollywood films attest. A lawyer serving on the then Br...
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