Phahlane investigation went to the ‘core of corruption’ – experts

The court was packed to capacity when former acting National Police Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, Lieutenant Colonel Godfrey Mahwayi, Major General Maanda Nemutanzhela and Major General Mankosana Makhele as well as businessmen Inbanathan Kistiah and Avendra Naidoo appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court yesterday.

Phahlane and his co-accused were facing charges of fraud, corruption, theft and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act, pertaining to two police tenders issued in 2016. When Phahlane was asked by journalist how he was feeling, he said, “Can’t you see I look good.”

Investigating Directorate spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka said on 21 December 2016, the SA Police Service (Saps) Crime Intelligence Division had embarked on what it called emergency procurement of software tools or systems.

ALSO READ: Former top cop Phahlane and Crime Intelligence generals get bail in R54m tender corruption case

One of the software tools was named Ripjar. Seboka said it was intended to collect and monitor information from social media platforms on the instigators of university students’ #FeesMustFall protests.

“The other software was Daedalus. It was to encrypt voice calls made by the management of the Saps at the time when Phahlane was under investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.

“Phahlane was, at the beginning, investigated for the ‘Blue Lights’ police tender and other irregular procurement that happened during his tenure.

“Daedalus made it impossible for investigators to get call records from cellphone providers. Daedalus was procured for the sole purpose of encrypting calls and wiping out cellular records and messages,” she said.

“It is further alleged that deviation from normal procurement processes for the contracts signed and processed on the same day and payment was made on 22 December, one day after approval. It is further alleged that R33 million was paid to I-View and R21 million paid for Daedalus within a short space of time.”

A source intimate with details said the Ripjar was allegedly going to be able to locate where somebody was tweeting from or sending a Facebook message from, and perhaps, identify the person so police could apprehend that person.

The accused had tried to procure the software using regulation 16A6.4, which allows procurement in cases of an emergency.

“Remember #FeesMustFall started in mid-October 2015, so this could have not been an emergency in December 2016, 16 months down the line.

“The regulation makes it clear that poor planning and stupidity do not constitute an emergency. The very same regulation in paragraph 3.4.3 imposes a duty of the accounting officers to report any emergency procurement to the auditor-general and Treasury within 10 working days. Failure to report constitutes fraud.”

Phahlane arrest a step in right direction

Paul O’Sullivan from Nonprofit Forensics for Justice said the arrest of Phahlane and his co-accused was a step in the right direction. O’Sullivan said the criminal justice system was captured by criminals and had been run by criminals for a very long time.

“We traced the capture of the criminal justice system back to 2012,” he said. “They succeeded in taking over the criminal justice system; criminals were appointed to run the police, Hawks [Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation] and the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority].”

O’Sullivan said the accused had not followed any procedures and every opportunity they got, they stole from the criminal justice system.

“They were like kids in an apple orchard; every tree was subject to being scalped. “I think the total amount stolen over the years they were in charge exceeds R1 billion.”

Former State Security Agency boss Robert McBride said the arrests of Phahlane and his co-accused had been a long time coming. McBride said this investigation went to the core of corruption which was the scourge of crime intelligence.

ALSO READ: Khomotso Phahlane among high ranking police officials arrested over R54m police tender

“[One of] the businessmen arrested has been has been central to a lot of these attempts of corruption,” he said.

“They had political backing; they were able to victimise people. One of my investigators on the same investigation was killed; others were threatened; others were arrested and locked up for no reason.”

The accused were released on bail of R5 000, R10 000, R50 000, and three were released on R20 000 bail each.