The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) under Robert McBride, a polarising and controversial figure, has made strides in policing the police. Ipid ensures independent oversight of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Municipal Police Services. McBride took the helm in 2014 despite objections by opposition parties and concerns that he was too embedded in the ANC to be impartial. His term of office expires in March 2019, but the Ipid Act allows for it to be renewed for an additional term. McBride is loathed by some for having led the Umkhonto we Sizwe unit that bombed the Why Not Restaurant and Magoo’s Bar in Durban in 1986, in which three women were killed and 69 people injured. He was captured and sentenced to death, but later reprieved on death row. He was granted amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. McBride has been linked to a string of misdemeanours over the years. A gun-running matter in Mozambique in 1998 was dropped when it was argued he ...
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