Suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner for Crime Detection, Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya, has accused KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi of misleading the public about the handling of political killing dockets.
Testifying before Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating corruption in the criminal justice system on Monday, Sibiya questioned whether Mkhwanazi had “told the truth or misled the nation” during his 6 July press briefing.
At the time, Mkhwanazi claimed that dockets from the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) were sitting idle in Sibiya’s office, gathering dust.
Sibiya Challenges Mkhwanazi’s Claims
Sibiya rejected the allegation, saying he never kept the files.
“The dockets were never gathering dust in my office for three months,” he said.
“Crime intelligence boss Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo brought the dockets to Lt-Gen Khosi Senthumule, who then worked with a team to hand them over on 28 March. I was not there.”
Sibiya said officials were supposed to send the dockets to Mkhwanazi, but he refused to accept them.
“He said, ‘I don’t want the dockets in my province. Take them to Sibiya’s office.’ I never kept dockets in my office or safe. I don’t even have a safe or archives. He was simply misleading the nation,” he said.
Minister’s Directive to Disband the Task Team
Sibiya said officials had neglected the dockets long before he became involved.
“They were not being attended to. They were dead, and there was no urgency. Some dockets were last looked at five years ago,” he told MPs.
The controversy stems from a directive issued by suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu on 31 December last year. Instructing national commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola to disband the PKTT.
Masemola, who was on leave at the time, later told the committee that Sibiya pushed for the immediate disbandment of the task team, despite his objections.
“I agree the national commissioner didn’t agree with the immediate disbandment,” Sibiya said.
“He produced a plan that spoke to a phased approach, and that is exactly what happened.”
Sibiya Defends His Role
Sibiya insisted he was merely following orders from Masemola’s office.
“On 3 January, Brig GH Lethoko from the national commissioner’s office emailed my office. Directing me to communicate the deactivation of the PKTT to the relevant team,” he said.
“My office was also asked to submit a report by 14 January for the national commissioner’s consideration and sign-off to the minister. I’m sure the national commissioner gave such an instruction,” he added.
He said Masemola should have acted on the minister’s directive immediately instead of waiting to return from leave.
Ongoing Testimony
Parliament will hear Sibiya’s continued testimony on Tuesday as he faces accusations of interfering with investigations and obstructing the PKTT’s work.
Members of Parliament are expected to question him about how he handled the 121 dockets and his role in disbanding the task team.
