A letter calling on KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi to respond to a complaint against him has allegedly been withdrawn.
"Yes, I can confirm I was advised by the Independent Investigative Police Directorate (IPID) that I no longer need to respond and the letter has been withdrawn," Mkhwanazi told IOL when approached.
The withdrawal follows allegations from an anonymous complaint that he had allegedly protected a prison official who was dealing drugs at a prison facility in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mkhwanazi has vehemently rejected the allegations and maintained there was a plot to oust him for his no-nonsense approach to crime and corruption.
Approached for comment, IPID spokesperson Lizzy Suping declined to comment on whether the letter had been withdrawn, saying only the directorate needed space to continue its investigations and would respond once done.
Pressed on whether investigations were withdrawn, she replied,"It's ongoing and once done, we will issue a statement."
However, the trade union body, the Public Services Association, called on IPID to stop what it called 'harassment' of Mkhwanazi.
"How can you investigate someone and tell them not to respond to the allegations against them? What kind of investigation is that? They need to stop harassing the police commissioner and allow him to do his job. Let him arrest criminals," Association spokesperson Reuben Maleka told IOL.
"We have written to the Minister two weeks ago, and part of our letter addresses this issue around the investigation. We requested an independent investigator to head the investigations if they want to go ahead with this.
"We believe this is a smear campaign against the commissioner, and if the letter has been withdrawn, we welcome this and that IPID has come to its senses. Leave the commissioner alone and allow him to do his job. We will be writing to the minister to raise our concerns again."
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