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Former IPID head Robert McBride.
Former Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) head, Robert McBride, is pushing back against claims by former Acting Police Commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane, who last week accused McBride and private investigator, Paul O’Sullivan of running a sustained media campaign to tarnish his name and block his permanent appointment as National Commissioner.
McBride was appearing today before the Ad Hoc Committee in Cape Town.
He told MPs that Phahlane was not a victim of smear campaigns, but a senior police figure facing multiple criminal cases, some now enrolled for trial and has spent years delaying his day in court.
“There’s quite a range of cases against Phahlane. Some haven’t reached court yet, and some it’s only becoming obvious what’s going on now. But there are two cases, the case numbers we have here, and one is in October, and the other is in November. One runs a whole month, but they are set down for trial,” says McBride.
“Phahlane was arrested for one of them in 2019, just after I left, and, I heard a statement, and I’m not here to talk about him. He’s got cases to answer for, but he makes a statement, ‘Bring it on.’ But he, for the last seven years, he’s tried every trick in the book not to go to trial. So like, bring it on, and then duck and dive don’t make sense. They’re not together,” he adds.
WATCH | Former IPID head Robert McBride says there are several cases against Phahlane, some of which have not yet reached court. pic.twitter.com/YF7xv7ZqWm
— SABC News (@SABCNews) January 20, 2026
