Robert McBride has dismissed misconduct allegations against him as "feeble" amid a battle over the extension of his contract as head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
"These allegations are nothing but a feeble attempt to prop up a false narrative that I have committed misconduct or that I somehow have a cloud over my head, merely because someone has made allegations," McBride said in a statement sent by IPID on Wednesday.
He said the "spurious" allegations emerged during IPID's own investigation into allegations of corruption against former acting national commissioner Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane.
The allegations against McBride were submitted by Cele this week in line with a court agreement relating to the Portfolio Committee on Police's authority in the matter of whether or not McBride's contract should be renewed.
Cele submitted that McBride was not "fit" for the position and that a new interview process for a new candidate should begin.
The committee is due to meet again on February 22, and the contents of all the submissions could be made public.
However, in his statement on Wednesday McBride said the Public Service Commission (PSC) had already investigated the misconduct claims against him and declared them unsubstantiated.
Cele's written submission included a lengthy list of untested allegations regarding leave pay, procurement, using the services of a private investigator and abuse of authority.
McBride said he only found out this week that the same allegations sent to the PSC were reported to the Public Protector and that the Public Protector then wrote to the minister of police to say the allegations had already been investigated by another Chapter 9 institution and found to be unsubstantiated.
This twist was discovered on Tuesday when Cele submitted his reasons to the Portfolio Committee on Police regarding why he did not consider McBride fit for another five years as IPID head.
The battle over the position began when McBride discovered that Cele was not going to extend his IPID contract for another five years. McBride maintains Cele does not have that power, and that only the portfolio committee can make that decision.
IPID's job is to investigate complaints against the police ranging from shooting incidents, officers refusing to help, to allegations of large-scale impropriety by high-ranking officers.
McBride said he believed that according to the Public Protector's rules, another investigation would be a duplication of efforts which is grounds to refuse to investigate again.
"These complaints are discredited and malicious and [an] objective person should have the insight to sift fact from fiction and malice."