Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya is fighting to protect two assets at once: his position in the South African Police Service and his personal freedom. The disciplinary process that could end his career and the criminal case that could keep him behind bars are running in parallel, and both carry direct financial and institutional stakes for the country’s police service.
The money trail sits at the centre of the allegations. Sibiya has conceded that he met Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, an alleged criminal kingpin, while acting as national police commissioner, after Matlala sought assistance over his R360-million Medicare24 contract, a contract that has been the subject of allegations of irregularity. Further allegations before the Madlanga Commission, which is investigating corruption, criminality and political interference in the police, are that Sibiya received regular payments from Mpumalanga taxi boss Jotham “King Mswazi” Msibi. He is also accused of ordering the removal of 121 case dockets from the Political Killings Task Team after Matlala’s arrest.
Sibiya has denied wrongdoing. He has accused the Commission’s Recommendations Task Team of abusing its powers and targeting him as part of internal battles within the police.
On the employment front, the Labour Court has postponed Sibiya’s disciplinary hearing until 12 October to allow him to consult a legal representative. He had been due to face the process on 5 October but approached the court urgently for a postponement while he pursues bail in the criminal case. The court adjourned the urgent application to allow the SAPS to file opposing papers and for Sibiya to file a responding affidavit. SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the service could not comment on the merits because the matter remains sub judice. “The Labour Court [matter] remains sub judice, and the SAPS will therefore refrain from commenting on the merits of the matter,” she said.
The disciplinary machinery itself continues to move. Mathe confirmed that the process, which relates to allegations of complicity with criminal networks, has not been halted. “The disciplinary hearing and the labour court proceedings are separate matters and have been running in parallel,” she said. Limpopo provincial commissioner Jan Scheepers is understood to be presiding over the process. Sibiya faces three separate disciplinary notices relating to different sets of allegations, and one hearing is scheduled to run from 2 to 6 November and again from 10 to 20 November.
The service has also planned for the possibility that its suspended deputy commissioner stays in custody. The SAPS had initially intended to hold the hearing at Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Facility in Pretoria if Sibiya remained detained. “If he is still in custody, we will then organise with correctional services to allow that particular hearing to sit down in Kgosi Mampuru,” Mathe said.
Meanwhile, on the criminal side, Sibiya is due back in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on 7 October to continue his bail application. He faces six charges, including rape, human trafficking, sexual grooming of a 16-year-old girl and negligent handling of a firearm. He remains in custody at Kgosi Mampuru after the state raised concerns that he could escape if held at a police station. During the bail proceedings, his lawyer, advocate Estelle Killian, told the court that the defence was preparing an application to postpone the disciplinary process, arguing that Sibiya was not in a position to proceed with it while dealing with the criminal case.
Taken together, the two tracks put Sibiya’s future in the SAPS and his liberty in the balance. The disciplinary process is examining allegations linked to criminal networks, while the criminal case will determine whether he remains behind bars as the prosecution proceeds. For the police service, the outcome will settle both an employment question and a reputational one, at a time when the Madlanga Commission continues to probe corruption and political interference in its ranks. Whether the November hearings proceed as scheduled may hinge on what the Randburg court decides days earlier.