Former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, whose career was derailed by corruption allegations, is mounting a dramatic comeback, emboldened by a recent court victory and sensational claims of a political plot to block his promotion.
Once the most senior officer in the SAPS, he has launched an aggressive legal offensive following a scathing appellate court judgment that dismissed an appeal by the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) against him in a defamation dispute, which will cost the union R350 000 plus interest.
His attorneys have dispatched a fiery letter, seen by Sunday World, demanding immediate payment and a public apology from a police union and its officials for what he claims were defamatory statements that poisoned his career prospects.
The letter, dated November 20, gives Popcru and several of its officials seven days to pay the damages claimed and to hold a press conference retracting allegations made in its 2012 press release.
“Should payment not be forthcoming, we hold instructions to execute a warrant of execution,” the letter from BDK Attorneys states, warning that the sheriff of the court will be instructed to “attach any and/or all of your movable, alternatively, immovable property” to be sold at public auction. Failure to publish the apology would result in contempt of court proceedings.”
This legal demand follows a judgment handed down on November 5 by a full bench of the Pretoria High Court, which dismissed Popcru’s appeal with costs. The appeal challenged a 2017 ruling that found the union had defamed Phahlane by alleging he was responsible for acts of corruption, concealing crime statistics, colluding with an officer involved in drug theft, and sabotaging fraud prosecutions.
The court found that the union’s defence that the statements were true and in the public interest collapsed because it “failed to justify the allegations, having closed its case without having testified”
The judges upheld the original order for a public retraction to be furnished to major South African news outlets, including the SABC and eNCA.
But Phahlane’s resurgence is not solely based on this legal victory and has been fuelled by startling testimony this week at a parliamentary inquiry into deep police corruption.
Cedrick Nkabinde, chief of staff for the suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu, lifted the lid on what he called the “Phahlane Task Team”.
Under oath, Nkabinde told lawmakers that he was part of a group plotting with explicit instructions from former Ipid head Robert McBride and forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan to hinder his career growth.
“The project was to make sure Gen Phahlane does not get appointed as permanent national commissioner,” Nkabinde told the parliamentary inquiry. He detailed a fallout with O’Sullivan and McBride, with whom he had worked during his tenure at Ipid from 2010 until his resignation in 2018, following a settlement agreement.
This testimony provides the first official account of a coordinated effort to prevent Phahlane’s ascent, lending credence to the claims of a political conspiracy that Phahlane has long alleged.
However, the key figures named by Nkabinde have universally and flatly denied any involvement. Paul O’Sullivan, AfriForum – the civil rights organisation which has frequently collaborated with O’Sullivan on anti-corruption cases – and the DA all issued strong rejections of his claims.
The convergence of the legal victory and the parliamentary testimony have created a powerful tailwind for Phahlane. Those in his camp now believe he is on the cusp of a major professional restoration.
They say he is “smelling the possibility of getting his job back with hefty back pay,” pending a separate, but related, ruling by the Labour Court over his removal from office. If successful, reinstatement would make him the most senior officer in the SAPS by virtue of his rank and previous acting position.
This, in turn, would place him at the front of the queue for consideration as the next national police commissioner when the current commissioner, Fannie Masemola, eventually retires.
The prospect of Phahlane, a figure once shrouded in scandal and investigative probes, leading the national police service would mark one of the most remarkable political rehabilitations in recent history.
The aggressive tone of his lawyer’s letter signals a man no longer on the defensive.
