McBride was charged with child abuse and an alternate charge of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was granted R10 000 bail in August. The matter was previously postponed for further investigations.

In a statement released soon after the news broke that he was being investigated for the assault of a minor child, McBride maintained that he was merely admonishing his daughter.

Speaking "with a heavy heart", he said he decided to issue the statement after details of the incident involving his daughter were being circulated by people who had failed by other means to get rid of him.

He claimed that the case was opened by a woman who had asked him unsuccessfully to squash a traffic fine.

"I admit that I admonished one of my daughters, whom I love very much," said McBride at the time.

He explained that he had become concerned about his daughter's school marks and "somewhat rebellious" behaviour, but never assaulted her.

"My daughter was seated directly behind me in the car, it would have been impossible for me to drive and 'assault' and 'throttle' her at the same time.

"I deny that I assaulted her and that she had any injuries when I left her at home. I have already indicated to the police that I will co-operate fully with the investigation."

He said alleged assault claims were a "red herring".

"I am not at all surprised by the latest allegations against me – I have been accused of treason, conspiracy to murder and plotting an Arab-Spring style revolution, all of which have come to nought. Those making the allegations have now gone silent, after failing to substantiate their allegations."

In an interview with EWN, McBride’s teenage daughter dismissed reports that the assault claims against her father were part of a smear campaign.

"This stems from him hitting me... it has nothing to do with his work. I’m not concerned about his reputation or his line of work," the teenager said.

McBride’s daughter gave EWN a detailed account of the incident, saying her father had punched her repeatedly in the face.

IPID previously claimed the assault case is likely part of a bigger plot to discredit McBride because of the work he had been doing fighting corruption.

It said McBride wanted the trial to start as soon as possible "so that he can clear his name".

News24