Phahlane says he was targeted after refusing to hand SAPS to O’Sullivan and McBride

Former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane has told the SABC he was targeted and forced out of the South African Police Service because he refused to hand control of the force to private investigator Paul O’Sullivan and Robert McBride.

Phahlane’s allegation and his remarks to the SABC

Speaking to the SABC on Monday evening, Phahlane said the corruption charges brought against him were fabricated to remove him from the police service. He said:

“I had to be removed from the SAPS, I had to be removed as an accounting officer. I had refused to hand over the SAPS to Paul O’Sullivan and Robert McBribe. Because I did not do that, they had to find ways of getting me out of the system. All these charges were concocted.”

IDAC provisional withdrawal of the R191m case

The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) has provisionally withdrawn a corruption case involving Phahlane and co-accused over a R191 million contract for SAPS emergency-warning equipment.

IDAC said Acting Investigating Director Advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara decided to provisionally withdraw the matter after considering the case, while intending to examine certain aspects before it is re-enrolled.

Contract details cited by investigators

The case relates to a 2016 contract awarded to Instrumentation for Traffic Law Enforcement (Pty) Ltd. About R65 million was paid under the contract, and investigators stopped a further payment of R22 million.

The provisional withdrawal, IDAC said, does not amount to a finding that the charges were fabricated.

Claims about O’Sullivan and McBride

The report notes that O’Sullivan and McBride have faced allegations of corruption, overreach and interference in law-enforcement institutions. It also states that McBride is not currently facing active criminal charges, and that O’Sullivan is not facing active criminal convictions.

The coverage adds that McBride was a key figure in high-profile parliamentary hearings earlier this year about corruption and institutional capture, and that O’Sullivan’s operations, qualifications and state ties are a focus of ongoing parliamentary and intelligence investigations.

Phahlane’s denial

Phahlane has also made clear that he was not involved in the corruption scandal in the SAPS.