The State has withdrawn charges against Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride and his two co-accused.

"After consultations... it has been apparent to the State that a prosecution would no longer be viable and we withdraw all charges," Prosecutor Sello Maema told the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Tuesday afternoon.

McBride, former director of investigations Matthew Sesoko, and former head of Ipid in Limpopo Innocent Khuba were being investigated by the Hawks' Crimes Against the State (Cats) unit for fraud and defeating the ends of justice.

The charges against the trio relate to their investigation of former Hawks head Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat.

Dramat was accused of involvement in the illegal rendition of Zimbabwean nationals in 2010.

The findings contained in the last report on the matter, and which McBride signed, exonerated Dramat and differed greatly from an earlier report implicating him in the renditions.

According to a report by law firm Werksmans Attorneys, portions of statements by individuals who implicated Dramat in the illegal renditions and which appeared in the first report, were left out of the second report.

McBride has maintained that the earlier report did not take all the facts into account.