Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has rejected charges of serious misconduct relating to the removal of 121 case dockets from a task team on political killings, arguing that the unit was never intended to exist indefinitely and he had acted within an approved restructuring framework.
Testifying at the Madlanga Commission, which is investigating claims of political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system, Sibiya said he had acted within the law and with the full knowledge of his superior, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola.
The charges stem from allegations that Sibiya ordered the withdrawal of the dockets, along with personnel and resources, from the task team after suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu disbanded the unit on 31 December 2024.
Despite instructions to leave the matter to Masemola, Sibiya ordered the removal of dockets from the test team. The dockets were subsequently returned by Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia. Sibiya was suspended for overreach and acting without Masemola’s approval.
Responding to the allegations, Sibiya said task teams were typically established for limited, defined purposes and Masemola had been aware of his actions.
“Task teams are ordinarily established for a defined purpose and are intended to operate for a finite lifespan. The PKTT [political killings task team] was no different. It was constituted to address a specific operational objective and was never intended to exist indefinitely,” he said.
Sibiya added that he was aware of a police report recommending the establishment of a dedicated murder and robbery unit to take over cases handled by the task team.
He pushed back against previous testimony by Masemola that Mchunu’s disbandment letter came as a surprise, saying the national commissioner was present at a November 2024 executive meeting which discussed the human resource and organisational structures of the South African Police Service (SAPS).
“In this meeting, Minister Mchunu directed the executive committee of the SAPS to reconsider and review certain operational capabilities, specifically including the PKTT, on the basis that these task teams were said to duplicate capabilities already existing elsewhere in the SAPS,” he said. Masemola had admitted that the task team was meant to evolve into a unit at a later stage.
“He could not have been surprised because he participated in the discussions and there are minutes in that regard … I was not surprised and I don’t agree with the national commissioner,” he said.
Mchunu had emphasised that the SAPS must guard against creative structures that duplicated existing capabilities, Sibiya said.
“What is also of concern is that despite numerous attempts by different national commissioners, little to no effort was made by provinces to resource and to implement the approved recommendations. This has significantly contributed to the poor performances of detective services,” he said.
Sibiya said he was being targeted politically, telling the commission: “There’s so much pressure mounting on me being pushed out of office when I’ve done nothing wrong.”
He described allegations relating to a Johannesburg spyware saga, labour disputes within the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) and the removal of the 121 dockets as fabricated attempts to force him out of the police service.
“In total, more than 20 criminal cases were opened against me by a task team established by General [Berning] Ntlemeza in crime intelligence, forming part of an unsubstantiated and focused campaign to have me arrested, removed from office and publicly discredited,” Sibiya said, adding that senior SAPS managers and the public were led to believe he was involved in corruption, organised crime and drug dealing.
“These allegations have caused profound and lasting harm to my reputation, integrity and career, notwithstanding their complete lack of factual foundation. Regrettably, the pattern that characterised those events continues to manifest itself, with similar unfounded attacks again being directed to me,” he said.
Sibiya denied involvement in the arrest of crime intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo and said he had been unaware of the charges at the time.
The suspended deputy national police commissioner said he was not aware that suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu would disband a task team on political grounds in December 2024
