Show us the money, Phahlane

29 March 2017

The DA will write to the Minister of Police, Nathi Nhleko, to request that he make public the lifestyle audit that Acting National Police Commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane, claims he was subjected to as a part of his appointment process.

If Nhleko does not agree to this, it may indicate that the lifestyle audit was never done and that proper processes in appointing Phahlane may not have been followed.

An affidavit from an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) investigator detailing suspicious financial circumstances surrounding Phahlane was reportedly sent to the Portfolio Committee on Police this week.

This affidavit reportedly reveals further payments made on Phahlane’s behalf by the same South African Police Services (SAPS) service providers, Crimetech Laboratories, alleged to have paid for his stereo system worth R80 000, amongst other things.

On the 24th of November last year, the DA wrote to Phahlane, urging him to submit himself to a voluntary lifestyle audit to allay the allegations of corruption, to which we received no response.

When he appeared before the committee on February 2nd this year, I asked him if he will be willing to submit himself to a voluntary lifestyle audit to which he replied:

“I am on record as having said at the level where I am that’s what we subscribe to, that’s what we will subject ourselves to. And for me to be given a top secret clearance would have meant that I have went through that process. But at any given moment if I were to redo it, that would not be an issue.”

It is now high time that Phahlane puts his money where his mouth is and releases the lifestyle audit to show that he has nothing to hide and that he is dedicated to transparency.

If there had been no such previous lifestyle audit, then strong action should be taken against Phahlane for, once again, apparently misleading the portfolio committee.

The SAPS can ill afford to be rocked by yet more instability in its top levels.

It is imperative that South Africans are able to trust that the leadership of the SAPS are beyond reproach, so that violent crime can be fought. This is the only way all our people will feel safe in their homes and communities.

Issued by Zakhele Mbhele, DA Shadow Minister of Police, 29 March 2017