Lt. Colonel Charl Kinnear, anti-gang unit section commander, who was gunned down outside his home on September 18, 2020. Photographer: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers archives
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) has moved to declassify the investigation report into the actions and conduct of police officers related to circumstances that led to the death of Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear.
Kinnear was shot dead outside his house in September 2020.
In a media briefing on Wednesday, the Ipid said it had classified the investigation report in 2022 to protect sensitive information of witnesses and police officers who were named in the investigation but not charged at the time.
The investigation revealed that nine officers, seven from the South African Police Service (SAPS) and two officers from the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks).
It was explained that the decision to classify the report was further guided by the Ipid Act which explains that information related to any investigation undertaken by the directorate cannot be shared with any parties except those mentioned or implicated in the report. So the Department of Justice has to protect itself from being exposed to any litigation, at the time.
Ipid executive, Dikeledi Ntlatseng, said the decision to declassify was compelled by developments that led to the reports classification in the first place.
Ipid said it has informed SAPS that disciplinary action has been taken against officers implicated in the case.
The Ipid said it will further engage with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape to view its earlier decision, in 2022, not to prosecute.
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