Sibiya rejects misconduct charges, alleges campaign to remove him from the SAPS

Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has rejected charges of serious misconduct relating to theremoval of 121 case docketsfrom 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 theMadlanga 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 commissionerFannie 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 MinisterSenzo Mchunudisbanded the unit on 31 December 2024.

Despite instructions to leave the matter to Masemola, Sibiya ordered the removal of dockets from the test team. 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.

[paywall]

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.

[/paywall]