Overview
- The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption has provisionally withdrawn all criminal charges against former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane and his co‑accused in the R191‑million emergency warning equipment tender.
- Phahlane and others faced counts including corruption, fraud, theft and money laundering over a 2016 SAPS contract to supply blue lights and warning equipment.
- Idac says R65‑million was paid to the service provider Instrumentation for Traffic Law Enforcement and that a further R22‑million payment was stopped during the investigation.
- The move is part of a wider National Prosecuting Authority review of Idac’s caseload, which has already seen other high‑profile charge withdrawals and could lead to cases being re‑enrolled or further investigated.
- Phahlane was dismissed from the police in 2020 after a disciplinary finding of dishonesty, he has claimed he was caught in internal SAPS power struggles, and the provisional withdrawal does not amount to an acquittal.