A secretive South African Police Service (SAPS) initiative, dubbed “Project Cyborg”, has been exposed in a bombshell affidavit as an irregular and wasteful operation that misused state resources to target individuals.
The allegations are contained in a document submitted by former Lt-Gen Khomotso Phahlane, who is due to testify on Wednesday to the ad hoc committee investigating allegations of police capture by criminal syndicates.
The programme, allegedly spearheaded by former national commissioner Khehla Sitole and former Ipid head Robert McBride, is described as an irregular and wasteful operation that misused state resources under the guise of combating corruption and “cleaning up” SAPS’s IT environment.
According to the affidavit, Project Cyborg was established in February 2018 following consultations between Sitole, McBride, and other senior officials, including Lt-Gen Yolisa Matakata of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and representatives from the Treasury.
The affidavit states, “Program Cyborg is focused on redressing individual, organisational, and technology intelligence breaches towards restoring integrity as national security and critical infrastructure concerns.”
It alleges the programme included projects targeting service providers such as Kriminalistic, Crime Tech, and Forensic Data Analysts (FDA), and probed alleged proceeds of crime linked to houses and cars owned by senior SAPS officials.
Key members of Project Cyborg’s executive committee are named as Sitole, McBride, Matakata and National Treasury representatives. The document also lists a nodal point team and project team members, including senior SAPS officials and external forensic investigators.
The affidavit claims the programme was used to target specific individuals and entities with baseless allegations, including Phahlane and FDA.
Phahlane’s affidavit alleges, “The records, which I had sight of, demonstrate the extent to which the state apparatus at the taxpayer’s expense was unleashed on investigations with ulterior motives against me and the FDA in particular. Bowmans and SizweNtsalubaGobodo scrutinised all FDA contracts in SAPS and Sita and found no wrongdoing in any of them.
On financial implications, the affidavit states, “The investigations and analysis conducted as contained in the report submitted on 28 February 2018 to Parliament Scopa, referred to infra, rendered the Program Cyborg irregular and wasteful at inception.”
Phahlane further alleges a broader campaign to discredit him, stating, “The vindictiveness and viciousness of Mr McBride and Mr Sesoko, with Mr [Paul] O’Sullivan spearheading their operations disguised as a fight against corruption allowed by the authorities, including Parliament and the executive in the Republic of South Africa, is beyond my comprehension.”
The affidavit calls for a thorough review, arguing, “The newly approved functional and organisational structure by General [Fannie] Masemola dated 15 May 2025 renders the SAPS ineffective, inefficient, and uneconomical; thus, it should be subjected to a review to enable policy alignment and integration in line with the objects of policing as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.”
The revelations raise serious questions about the use of state resources and the integrity of investigations within SAPS.
The ad hoc committee is expected to investigate these allegations as part of its ongoing inquiry.
