Former acting national police commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane, has detailed how a coordinated campaign, allegedly driven by former IPID head Robert McBride in collaboration with Paul O’Sullivan, led to the creation of the so-called “Phahlane Task Team” to destroy his reputation.
Addressing an ad hoc parliamentary committee on Wednesday, Phahlane said a special investigation team was created with the sole purpose of targeting him, despite the absence of affidavits or direct evidence linking him to criminal conduct.
Phahlane said the campaign relied on public accusations, media leaks, and investigative theatrics rather than lawful process.
“If you accuse me, come directly with an affidavit setting out the elements of a crime,” he told MPs.
“Instead, a team was established to investigate allegations even when there was nothing directly against me.”
He insisted that many of the claims made publicly lacked substance and were never supported by sworn statements.
Despite multiple dockets being opened, Phahlane said none contained a formal affidavit by O’Sullivan, who had been central in making allegations against him.
Investigators, he said, repeatedly asked O’Sullivan to depose an affidavit to allow a proper investigation. “That was never done,” he said.
Phahlane was suspended in 2017 amid serious corruption allegations, including claims that he benefited from police tenders by receiving luxury vehicles and an R80,000 sound system from a service provider.
He was also linked to the controversial “blue lights” procurement tender.
The allegations dominated public discourse and reinforced perceptions of widespread corruption within the South African Police Service.
He told MPs that those allegations ultimately failed to withstand legal scrutiny.
Phahlane confirmed that a full bench of the High Court recently ruled in his favour in civil litigation arising from the accusations, ordering costs against his accusers and instructing them to retract the claims and issue an apology.
According to Phahlane, the decisive shift occurred when McBride returned to IPID from suspension.
He alleged that McBride recalled investigators who were working in KZN, removed them from the case, took control of the docket and replaced them after receiving a dossier compiled by O’Sullivan through his assistant.
“That marked the beginning of the task team,” Phahlane said.
He also raised concerns about the handling of a violent attack on him and his wife on June 5, 2016, when three armed men confronted them at a Johannesburg spa.
Phahlane described the incident as deeply disturbing and said McBride was the first person to contact him afterwards, sending a WhatsApp message offering assistance.
Phahlane further alleged that McBride later obtained CCTV footage of the attack and that it was circulated among O’Sullivan’s associates before being disseminated online, accompanied by narratives that he said were distorted and fed directly into negative media coverage about him.
McBride and O’Sullivan have previously rejected claims of a vendetta, maintaining that their actions were driven by the public interest and the need to root out corruption.
The Phahlane saga has unfolded against a backdrop of declining public trust in state institutions.
Politics
