Friday 1 March 2019 – 1:29pm
JOHANNESBURG – Former acting National Police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane and Major-General Ravi Pillay were granted R20,000 bail each after appearing in court on Friday on charges of fraud and corruption.
They were arrested and appeared in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court in connection with an R86-million tender involving emergency blue lights.
In his affidavit presented to court, Phahlane said the probe by police watchdog, Ipid, is tainted and not done in an objective manner.
He said it’s a malicious process driven against him and believes in time parties involved will be taken to task.
Phahlane said his arrest is irrational and designed to humiliate and cause a sensation.
In an interview on eNCA, forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan said, “all criminals have to come up with a story to defend their criminal conduct…”
The investigator stated he had been investigating Phahlane for over three years and had an agent infiltrate one of the companies involved, two years ago.
When asked about the timing of the arrest, O’Sullivan stated, “when a person is paranoid they create all these links. I imagine there are probably ghosts under his bed.”
“At the end of the day, the man is delusional, the wheel of justice turns and nobody can predict the NPA.”
Phahlane’s appearence in court comes a day after former Ipid boss Robert McBride’s contract ended.
McBride has since filed an urgent interdict to have parliament and the police minister’s decision not to renew his contract set aside.
O’ Sullivan admitted to sending emails to the police portfolio committee threatening to investigate Francois Beukman and other MPs on Thursday.
The investigator sent three emails via his organisation, Forensics for Justice, informing the committee, handling the Robert McBride contract decision, of his intention to conduct an investigation into its members.
He also accused the committee of carrying out state capture.
Phahlane and Pillay are due back in court dock on 29 March.
IPID responds to the allegations made by #phahlane that his arrest is nothing but a media show aimed at humiliating him and bolstering former #IPID boss Robert McBride chances of getting his job back. pic.twitter.com/quLogU8vaQ
— Lirandzu Themba (@LirandzuThemba) March 1, 2019
By ENCA News.