Cape Town - The investigation report relating to the murder of top cop Charl Kinnear, with information containing “matters of national security”, was not properly classified before it was submitted to the Portfolio Committee on Police (PCP).
It would appear that the Minimum Information Security Standard (MISS) procedure was not followed when having the report – investigated by police watchdog Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) – properly classified before it was submitted to the PCP earlier this year.
On Wednesday, the PCP heard that only the cover page of the report was stamped “top secret” instead of the entire document.
The report implicated a number of police officers, from low to senior ranks in management, alleged to be colluding with gangsters in the Western Cape.
The report is deemed “top secret due to a number of sensitive details, incriminating statements made under oath, and related documentary evidence”, and was submitted to the PCP in May this year.
Ipid executive director Dikeledi Ntlatseng maintained the report was still classified, despite the procedural mess-up.
Ipid deputy head Mario September said: “We are the custodians of that (sensitive) information, and our report cannot be read in isolation.
It must be read in the context of the annexures and the whole content of the annexures.
There are matters of national security in it, and if that information gets leaked or is open for public consumption and in the public domain, it is a serious issue.”
Ipid spokesperson Lizzy Suping said: “I can only comment on the Kinnear case after the PCP meeting on November 9, 2022. The document is still classified.”
Reacting to the report not being properly classified, Kinnear’s widow, Nicolette Kinnear, said the document should be declassified to expose corrupt cops.
“It’s a joke, a circus. Who is the victim here?
The one is dead because his colleagues failed to do their jobs. The others are myself and my kids, battling to stay safe and alive ... so who are they protecting?” she asked.
Anti-crime activist Zona Morton said: “The incompetence of officials is exposed through the fact that they did not follow due diligence in doing the classification, hence this Ipid report on Kinnear is not classified.
To write a letter to Minister Cele to have it classified now is purely to cover up that they did not follow the correct procedure in the first place...
Rogue Unit members implicated in the report have connections with the underworld and they are compromised, yet they continue to work and continue to have access to secret classified documents.
This is a threat to National Security, not (the Kinnear) Ipid report.”
DA MP Andrew Whitfield said: “SAPS’ inaction on the Kinnear Report recommendations raises questions of a possible cover-up”.
He called on Police Minister Bheki Cele to account for this.
“(Ntlatseng) and her team further confirmed that the final report, which contains recommendations to be implemented, has been with the SAPS for months and that Ipid has not received any correspondence from the SAPS despite the fact that the Ipid Act requires that they respond within 30 days. These revelations have raised questions regarding the validity of the classification and the seriousness with which SAPS treats recommendations from Ipid, as well as possible attempts by the SAPS to protect those implicated in the Ipid report.”
Enquiries to the police ministry had not been answered by deadline.
Cape Times