The Constitutional Court is on Tuesday expected to hear suspended IPID boss Robert McBride’s challenge regarding Police Minister Nathi Nhleko’s powers to suspend him.

McBride does not think Nhleko was allowed to suspend him without consulting other members of Cabinet, in terms of the Constitution.

As head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), McBride believes he would not be able to fulfil his mandate to act independently if the police minister is allowed to do this.

IPID investigates allegations of misconduct or wrongdoing by police officers.

McBride was suspended in March last year as part of the fallout into an investigation into the illegal deportation of five Zimbabweans wanted for the murder of a policeman in Bulawayo in that country.

McBride was accused of tampering with an IPID report into whether the former head of the specialised police unit, the Hawks, Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat, was involved in the renditions.

Dramat was suspended on December 23, 2014 and subsequently resigned in April last year after going back and forth between court, his office, and being on leave.

Gauteng Hawks head Major General Shadrack Sibiya was fired after a disciplinary hearing found it that he knew about the renditions.

In December, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that the laws that had allowed Nhleko to suspend McBride unilaterally were unconstitutional. However, the court suspended its order pending the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the matter.