Deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya has been placed on special leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct and corruption.
Sibiya’s leave of absence is the latest flashpoint in an unfolding scandal surrounding police minister Senzo Mchunu, who has been placed at the centre of allegations of political interference and institutional capture within the country’s criminal justice system.
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola confirmed on Tuesday Sibiya had officially been served notice to temporarily vacate his post. Investigators are probing serious claims including Sibiya’s alleged role in disbanding a task team investigating political killings.
Mchunu is reported to have instructed the dismantling of the unit, raising further questions about political interference in law enforcement operations.
Masemola did not provide a timeline for the investigation but said the matter was receiving urgent attention.
The investigation by the police top brass will determine the next course of action, which could include a notice of suspension, Masemola said.
“I’m doing general investigation … [which] will determine [the] next course of action,” he said on the sidelines of public demonstrations in support of KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who made the damning allegations.
Sibiya and Mchunu, who has also been placed on special leave, are under scrutiny amid allegations that they colluded with politicians, convicted criminals such as Brown Mogotsi, and figures such as Vusumuzi Matlala who face criminal charges.
Investigative reports revealed that Matlala had been awarded a R360m police health services tender, which was cancelled days before his arrest earlier this month. He was arrested, with his wife, for an attack on socialite and actress Tebogo Thobejane.
Mchunu, who initially denied to parliament earlier this year that he knew Mogotsi, has since confirmed that he is acquainted with the businessperson and has referred to him as a “comrade”.
The allegations made by Mkhwanazi regarding political interference in the criminal justice system will be probed by a judicial commission of inquiry as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday.
The inquiry, headed by acting deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, is tasked with probing the allegations against Mchunu, including investigating whether any members of the national executive responsible for the criminal justice system were complicit, aided and abetted or participated in the alleged criminal activities.
Though the ANC has welcomed the inquiry and Mchunu’s leave of absence from his government role, secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the police minister remained a national executive committee and national working committee member.
“From our side at Luthuli House [ANC headquarters], we don’t have a correspondence from comrade Senzo [Mchunu] that says that he requested to be placed on leave in government to inform the party or otherwise he is a resigning in government,” Mbalula said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
“Ministers are members of parliament. He’s not suspended as a member of parliament … ”
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