When the police service wanted software to monitor student protests and secure its phone communications, the case now before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria alleges, the people meant to safeguard the process instead shut the door on fair competition. At the centre of the fraud and corruption trial, which resumed on Thursday, 12 November 2026, are former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane and five co-accused, whom the state accuses of costing the South African Police Service the chance to secure two software contracts worth roughly R54 million at a better price.
The disputed deals date back to 2016, when contracts were awarded for software intended for Saps’ Crime Intelligence division. One involved Ripjar, a social media surveillance tool reportedly meant to help the division track the #FeesMustFall protests that erupted in October 2015. The other involved Daedalus, a mobile communications security system allegedly designed to encrypt telephone calls and erase cellphone records and messages.
Both contracts, valued at R33.86 million and R20 million respectively, went to Brainwave Projects 1323 CC, a company then owned by businessman Inbanathan Kistiah and trading as I-View Integrated Systems. It is alleged that Phahlane authorised an emergency procurement deviation on 21 December 2016, opening the way for the acquisitions.
In court this week, the prosecution laid out what it says was a carefully staged bidding process. Two companies submitted price quotations to Saps: Brainwave Projects and Perfect Source Professional Service, the latter owned by Gevani, the former wife of co-accused businessman Avendra Naidoo. The state contends that false information was provided about both firms, concealing the links between them and creating the impression that they were separate, independent bidders. Crime Intelligence, the prosecution argued, accepted that misrepresentation as true and correct.
The consequences, according to the state, went beyond a flawed process. The alleged deception, prosecutors said, prevented Saps from taking legal action against Kistiah and Brainwave Projects to have the contract set aside or reviewed, leaving the police service exposed to contractual obligations and potential financial liability, including payments tied to the Ripjar agreement.
“The accused knew in truth and in fact that foresaid misrepresentations were false,” the prosecutor told the court. The state advocate maintained that Phahlane and his co-accused were aware of the connections between Perfect Source, Kistiah and Brainwave Projects, and alleged that the parties had colluded to ensure Brainwave Projects’ quotation was given the greenlight and the contract secured.
The competition between the two suppliers, the state argued, was anything but real. “Brainwave Projects 1323 CC and Perfect Source were not in a genuine or real competition with each other, but in a fictitious competition,” the prosecutor said. The procedure followed to award the Ripjar contract, the court heard, was not fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost effective, and therefore not compliant with Section 217 of the Constitution and other legislation governing state procurement.
Beyond the alleged collusion, prosecutors argued that the two companies were not the only suppliers capable of providing the required software, and that the way the process was handled stopped Saps from considering other service providers who might have charged less. Their conduct, the state said, amounted to a denial of an opportunity to select the most cost effective price from a pool of independent service providers. The prosecution also disputed the basis for treating the procurement as an emergency, noting that at the time of the award the #FeesMustFall protests had been under way for more than 12 months.
Phahlane is standing trial alongside Major-General Maanda Obert Nemutanzhela, former major-general Mankosana Agnes Makhele, former lieutenant-colonel Godfrey Mahwayi, Kistiah and Naidoo. The six, arrested in September 2022, face charges of fraud, corruption, theft and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act. The deals were concluded while Phahlane was already under investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate over the R191 million blue lights police tender and other alleged procurement-related misconduct dating back to his time in office between October 2015 and August 2020.
Meanwhile, the trial had recently been postponed to allow for the conclusion of the local government elections. It is expected to resume on Monday, 16 November, after the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption said the postponement was requested to accommodate a legal representative attending the funeral of a staff member on Friday, 13 November. Further detail on the state’s case, as reported by The Citizen, can be found at https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/courts/khomotso-phahlane-corruption-trial-police-cheaper-software/.