Illustrative image: Former top cop Khomotso Phahlane. (Photo: Leila Dougan) | Police parade at the SAPS college in Pretoria. (Photo: Craig Nieuwenhuizen / Gallo Images /Foto24) | Handcuffs. (Photo: Freepik) Ten years after former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane and his co-accused were first implicated in an allegedly corrupt R191-million blue lights tender, the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) has provisionally withdrawn all charges against them.
Phahlane was appointed acting national police commissioner by former president Jacob Zuma in 2015, but his tenure ended two years later when he was told to step aside amid the corruption allegations. He was dismissed from the South African Police Service (SAPS) in July 2020 following a disciplinary hearing that found him guilty of dishonesty.
Idac spokesperson Henry Mamothame said the decision to provisionally withdraw the criminal case was taken after Idac’s acting investigating director, advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara, decided to “peruse certain aspects” of the matter before it is re-enrolled.
Phahlane and his co-accused were facing charges of corruption, fraud, theft and money laundering linked to a 2016 contract to supply emergency warning equipment to the South African Police Service (SAPS) at a cost of just over R191-million.
“However, R65-million was paid to the service provider, Instrumentation for Traffic Law Enforcement (Pty) Ltd. A payment of R22-million was also prevented from being paid at an advanced stage of the investigations by Idac,” said Mamothame.
Part of a larger review
The withdrawal comes as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) reviews all the cases handled by Idac, with national spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago saying two months ago that more than 40 matters were under scrutiny.
Kganyago said the review was part of the “reset of Idac”, with Crime Intelligence cases among those being considered.
“Those matters are many; we are reviewing – we indicated that we’re going to look at all the cases, as part of the reset of Idac. Therefore, we’re talking [about] more than 40 cases, but at the moment the matters of Crime Intelligence are the ones that are being reviewed as we speak,” he said.
The Phahlane case is the second high-profile case involving a senior police official to be withdrawn in recent weeks, following the decision to drop criminal charges against suspended national police commissioner Fannie Masemola.
Masemola was facing four charges of contravening the Public Finance Management Act in a case involving a police tender awarded in 2024 to Medicare 24 Tshwane District, a company owned by organised crime accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
The tender was budgeted at R360-million, but it was alleged that, through collusion with police officers, Matlala’s company was awarded the contract for R228 million.
On Tuesday, 15 September, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Andy Mothibi, instructed that the charges against Masemola be withdrawn. The case against the 16 former co-accused was also halted the following week while a review team appointed by Mothibi evaluated the matter.
/file/attachments/orphans/masemola-cleared-caryn2_480423.jpg "General Fannie Masemola. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu)")
Who was charged with Phahlane?
Phahlane was charged alongside former deputy national commissioner for human resources management Lieutenant General Bonang Mgwenya, former Gauteng police commissioner Deliwe de Lange, Gauteng deputy police commissioner Nombhuruza Lettie Napo, retired Lieutenant General Ramahlapi Johannes Mokwena, retired Major General Ravichandran Pillay, Colonel Thomas Dumas Marima and Sergeant Maetapese Joseph Mulaiwa.
The civilians charged in the matter were Judy Rose, Samantha Andrews and Vimpie Manthata, the owner of Instrumentation for Traffic Law Enforcement (Pty) Ltd.
Phahlane’s long fight with the SAPS
More than five years after being told to step aside, Phahlane argued that he had been caught up in what he described as a “destructive battle for the soul and control of the South African Police Service”.
He said he had become collateral damage in the internal fight and was being made to take the blame for matters he insisted he had nothing to do with.
In June 2022, Phahlane approached the Public Protector, asking that the circumstances surrounding the end of his police career be investigated as part of his ongoing battle with SAPS members whom he believed had set him up.
In his submission, Phahlane said: “The intervention of the Public Protector to mitigate the abuse of power and state resources in settling personal scores in the irregular implementation of the South African Police Service Discipline Regulations 2016 is hereby sought.” DM
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