Overview
- The police committee, which questioned IPID and SAPS on Wednesday, ordered in-person hearings after members said officials were evasive.
- The declassified IPID report says suspects were bribed, some were unlawfully apprehended and interrogated, and PPU head Wally Rhoode failed to report the crime or open a docket.
- IPID told MPs it classified the report to protect ongoing cases and to notify implicated officers before publicity.
- Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said he had no role in classifying or declassifying the report, which he said was declassified on February 2.
- SAPS later cleared Rhoode and Constable Hlulani Rekhoto in internal hearings, a result MPs challenged as they pressed for basic evidence details such as the location of the couch said to have held the cash.