Ipid asks Abrahams to review his decision not to prosecute Phahlane

The Independent Police Investigative Directive (Ipid) has asked National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shaun Abrahams to review his decision not to prosecute former Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Kgomotso Phahlane on a charge of defeating the ends of justice.

Last week, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced its decision not to prosecute on the charge, citing the unlikelihood of a successful prosecution.

But Ipid told parliament last week it felt it had a strong case against the suspended top cop. Responding to questions regarding the NPA’s decision, Ipid head Robert McBride also added that not only had the Saps been raiding Ipid offices in Gauteng, but that this had increased after Ipid went after the Phahlane case.

He said while Phahlane was “employing delaying tactics”, Ipid was close to finalising the case.

The announcement came after a leaked document from Ipid revealed new allegations of money laundering in the police watchdog’s ongoing investigation into Phahlane’s alleged corrupt relationships with Saps suppliers.

The document, a letter addressed to acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja Mothiba, alleged that in addition to the two Saps suppliers Phahlane was supposedly accepting kickbacks from, a third supplier had been named.

It was alleged that while Jolanta Komodolowicz, owner of the company Kriminalistik, allegedly paid for an R80 000 sound system for the cop, and car dealer Durand Snyman sponsored cars to Phahlane, Keith Keating, owner of Forensic Data Analytics, was involved in transactions with Durant for the benefit of Phahlane, including more than R1 million sent to a Namibian bank account belonging to Snyman.

While all parties have denied the allegations, Ipid spokesperson Moses Dlamini told The Citizen their investigators had turned their focus on Keating.

“The case against Lieutenant-General Phahlane is strong and the investigation is now focusing on a corrupt relationship between Phahlane and Keating,” he said.

He added that McBride had already written to Abrahams to review the decision not to prosecute Phahlane as he was of the view that the evidence was strong.

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