Deputy commissioner for crime detection Shadrack Sibiya. (X)
Deputy national commissioner for crime detection, Shadrack Sibiya, has accused KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, of using corruption allegations as part of an internal power struggle to prevent him from succeeding Fannie Masemola as national commissioner.
Continuing his testimony before parliament’s ad hoc committee on police corruption on Tuesday, Sibiya said Mkhwanazi’s July media briefing — which led to the establishment of Madlanga commission and the legislature’s parallel inquiry — was not motivated by a genuine attempt to expose wrongdoing but rather “a battle for power in the police”.
He reiterated that the controversy over the removal of 121 dockets from a task team established in 2018 to investigate political murders in KwaZulu-Natal was being weaponised to discredit him.
Democratic Alliance MP Glynnis Breytenbach asked Sibiya whether Mkhwanazi’s press conference reflected “a genuine desire to expose corruption and criminality within the police, or is this manifestation of a battle for power in the police?”
“Personally, quite honestly speaking, this has nothing to do with the 121 dockets and the disbanded political killing task team. According to me, it’s about the succession battle within the police,” Sibiya responded.
“I know that in my case, in my case, this whole thing is meant to block me.”
Sibiya said tensions had surfaced after a radio interview in which he said he would be available to serve as national police commissioner if asked — a comment that, he claimed, was followed by newspaper headlines framing it as “Sibiya vs Mkhwanazi”.
Sibiya said soon afterwards reports emerged that Masemola was facing arrest, which “infuriated” Mkhwanazi. He claimed Mkhwanazi’s press conference was a “pre-emptive strike” to protect both himself and Masemola.
“The people of South Africa are being taken for a ride, that this is about the disbandment [of the task team] and the dockets,” said Sibiya, adding that the dockets were gathering dust after being last opened in 2018.
“For us to be sitting here talking about the dockets, it’s a non-issue. Those dockets were dead a long time ago. And they are still dead now. Even if they can be recalled tomorrow, you will see they are still far.”
Sibiya said the decision to disband the task team stemmed from a December 2024 directive by suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. He told MPs that the unit was never meant to be permanent, that it operated in secrecy and consumed disproportionate resources — about R500 million a year — that could be better used for other national priorities such as violent crime and detective work.
Sibiya has also denied allegations that he acted on Mchunu’s behalf or attended meetings arranged by North West businessman Brown Mogotsi, who was accused of acting as a middleman between Mchunu and murder suspect Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. He said he “doubts” the authenticity of WhatsApp messages presented at the Madlanga commission linking him to the disbandment.
Breytenbach pressed Sibiya to assess how much of Mkhwanazi’s claims to the media in July were factual or speculative.
“General Mkhwanazi is playing the country, and he’s playing a mind game with the country, and he’s actually playing those who are willing to listen to him, because he knows how to play with words and the things he needs to say in such a way that the country gets moved,” said Sibiya.
He added that Mkhwanazi had portrayed himself as a defender of justice while casting Sibiya as a villain who took dockets needed to finalise cases.
“I don’t have those dockets,” Sibiya said.
Sibiya also accused Mkhwanazi of interfering in a drug investigation involving a senior correctional services officer, claiming that he advised the investigating officer not to implicate the suspect because drugs were found in a communal bin. Mkhwanazi previously told the Madlanga commission that this case had been used to attack him to justify his removal.
Sibiya told the ad hoc committee that Mkhwanazi and crime intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo had created the elite political killings task team that operated without oversight and sought to centralise intelligence and investigative power.
“We cannot really be fighting so hard to keep and maintain a very expensive political killing task team that is meant to actually take care of a very small pool of excellence within KZN. The whole country is not really taken care of,” said Sibiya.
He added that Mkhwanazi’s insistence on retaining the team came at the expense of other investigative units and “should not be allowed”.
Breytenbach asked whether there was political interference in the police and whether there were attempts to influence investigations into corrupt and politically connected people.
“So far, I have never been interfered with by any minister or deputy minister. I don’t know of any political interference,” said Sibiya.