Suspended deputy national police commissioner for crime detection Shadrack Sibiya intensified his defence before the Madlanga Commission this week, laying blame for the recent turmoil in the service on national commissioner Fannie Masemola.
Sibiya rejected allegations that he unlawfully removed 121 case dockets from a task team on political killings after suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu disbanded it.
The intention behind the dismantling of the team was to strengthen the murder and robbery unit, Sibiya said, further denying any involvement in corruption or links to alleged criminal cartels.
Masemola previously told the commission set up to investigate allegations of corruption and political interference in policing that he and Sibiya had “points of contention” regarding oversight of the political killings task team (PKTT), particularly over whether crime intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo should continue supervising it.
This week Sibiya described that characterisation as “concerning and quite frankly disturbing”, insisting he was simply discharging his official duties when removing the 121 case dockets, which were later returned by acting police minister Firoz Cachalia.
Khumalo faced a failed disciplinary process and was arrested over allegations that he interfered with internal hiring processes, promoting an unqualified senior official. His arrest was seen as political interference and an attack on the PKTT’s efforts to clamp down on criminal cartels.
“My position was premised on the operational reality that the crime intelligence division was suffering the consequences of General Khumalo’s extensive involvement with the PKTT,” Sibiya said, accusing Masemola of attempting to isolate him as an individual who acted outside proper operational procedures.
“Properly understood, the national commissioner’s complaint against me is not a bona fide complaint. It is contrived, selective in its focus and premised on an incomplete account of the events leading to the disestablishment of the PKTT.”
Earlier in the week, Sibiya described what he called a sustained campaign to remove him from the South African Police Service (SAPS), including more than 20 criminal cases opened against him in the past and allegations ranging from fraud to high treason. He argued that he is being politically targeted and subjected to a “trial by media”.
On Thursday, Sibiya told the commission that a criminal case was opened against him shortly after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s explosive media briefing in July last year in which he implicated Mchunu and Sibiya in political interference and corruption.
Sibiya was subsequently charged with defeating the ends of justice, fraud and corruption for ordering the removal of the 121 case dockets from the political killings task team. Under a search and seizure warrant, his phones and laptop were taken into police custody. Sibiya said the public manner in which the matter unfolded caused significant reputational harm to him.
He argued that accountability for case dockets falls under his office as deputy national commissioner for crime detection and maintained that he was acting within his jurisdiction when he directed the removal of the task team ones.
Sibiya presented the Madlanga commission with a note he had written to Masemola outlining proposed improvements to SAPS detective services. The note, he said, recorded operational challenges associated with cases being investigated outside established jurisdictional lines, including those handled by the task team.
Sibiya also produced a January 2024 letter highlighting poor performance within detective services, including 171 outstanding and unresolved case dockets within the crime intelligence environment. He argued that the removal of the 121 PKTT dockets formed part of a broader effort to streamline accountability and address systemic inefficiencies.
He rejected Masemola’s claim that he had insisted on removing counter-intelligence dockets against instruction.“It is therefore incorrect and misleading for the national commissioner to suggest that I was intent on removing counter-intelligence dockets from the crime intelligence environment.
Sibiya also denied allegations made by Khumalo that he visited the Bryanston home of businessman and alleged Big 5 cartel member Katiso Molefe in November 2024 to collect money in a white paper bag. He told the commission that the white BMW captured on CCTV entering Molefe’s residence was only assigned to his office in August 2025, nearly a year after the alleged visit.
“At the time the vehicle was allegedly seen at Mr Molefe’s residence, it was neither assigned to me, my office nor under my control. The premise upon which General Khumalo’s evidence rests is therefore demonstrably incorrect,” he said.
On the date in question he was in Cape Town, appearing before parliament’s portfolio committee on police, he added.
“General Khumalo’s failure to undertake such verification before presenting his evidence materially undermines the reliability of his testimony,” Sibiya said.
He criticised Masemola’s leadership, saying his “testimony contained nuanced inconsistencies which raises legitimate questions regarding his leadership”.
He said the national commissioner had allowed him and Khumalo to “operate under contradictory instructions”, creating confusion within SAPS.
“Such contradictory direction is indicative of inefficient command and control, creates confusion within the organisation, undermines operational efficiency and exposes the institution to unnecessary risk,” he said.
He also addressed allegations linking him to North West businessman Brown Mogotsi, who has been described in evidence as an alleged intermediary between Mchunu and criminal cartels.
He said Mogotsi started contacting him around December 2024 “during which communications warned me that certain individuals were purportedly attempting to have me removed from SAPS”.
He said he met Mogotsi for the first time in January 2025 in Cape Town while attending the ANC’s January 8 celebrations on official police business.
Previous witnesses have alleged that cartel funds were used to support delegates’ travel and accommodation to political events.
Businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala told parliament’s ad hoc committee that Mogotsi had requested funds for conferences at the behest of Mchunu. Sibiya denied any improper discussions with Mogotsi.
Commission chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga zoned in on Sibiya’s testimony that disbandment of the PKTT was a longstanding discussion within SAPS.
“Show us where there is a decision that says the PKTT should be disbanded,” said Madlanga.
“There is nowhere it is written PKTT must be disbanded because the docket was not only meant for the PKTT; it was meant for all the task teams, including the PKTT,” he said.
The suspended deputy commissioner said infighting in the police service was a result of the national commissioner’s poor leadership