Police war of words continues as Sibiya accuses Masemola of ‘tainted’ process against him

The saga that has exposed extreme division among South Africa’s top police officers has taken yet another twist, which provides more insight into how certain senior police officers view each other.

The accusations they have made are exceptionally worrying, given the violent crime problem in South Africa, which needs sharp and focused policing.

At the centre of the latest development is Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, the deputy national commissioner of crime detection.

He is driving legal action against the South African Police Service (SAPS), the police minister, his boss, National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, and President Cyril Ramaphosa.

His latest affidavit in this saga, dated Tuesday, 19 August 2025, emphasises how he and Masemola do not see eye-to-eye.

Cop vs cop

Last month, Masemola told Sibiya to take special leave pending an investigation against him.

This was after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi held a press conference on 6 July and made a series of astounding allegations against individuals, including Sibiya and the then police minister, Senzo Mchunu.

Read more: Mkhwanazi fallout intensifies as Sibiya told to ‘step aside’ after political killing accusations

Among Mkhwanazi’s allegations was that at the end of last year, Mchunu sent out a directive to freeze the filling of vacancies in the Crime Intelligence unit and to disband the Political Killings Task Team, which was created six years earlier.

A presentation provided during Mkhwanazi’s press conference stated: “On the 26th March 2025, a total of 121 case dockets under investigation were taken away from the Task Team as directed by the Deputy National Commissioner: Crime Detection, Lt General Sibiya, acting on the instruction of the Minister of Police to disband the Task Team.

“This was done without the authority of the National [or] the Provincial Commissioner.”

Read more: SAPS commissioner accuses police minister of derailing probe into political killings

Both Sibiya and Mchunu have denied the accusations of wrongdoing against them.

Mchunu, like Sibiya, was also placed on special leave, and Firoz Cachalia is now the police minister in an acting capacity.

Sibiya, meanwhile, turned to the high court in Gauteng to have Masemola’s decision to place him on leave declared unlawful.

‘Untested allegations’

He filed an initial affidavit in the matter last month, which police responded to and in which Masemola maintained his stance of making Sibiya take leave.

On Tuesday, Sibiya deposed a new affidavit in reply to the police.

In this affidavit, Sibiya said that Masemola had effectively “suspended” him based on “untested allegations” aired during a press briefing and without giving him a chance to represent his version of events.

This, Sibiya said, meant the disciplinary process against him was “tainted.”

Sibiya’s affidavit also said that Masemola had accused him of refusing to follow instructions relating to the Political Killings Task Team.

“The National Commissioner’s decision to instruct me to stay at home is therefore informed by his bias,” said Sibiya’s affidavit.

“The investigation that he is directing me to await is a foregone conclusion as he has decided I am guilty of misconduct.”

‘Scapegoat’ accusations

In his affidavit, Sibiya said allegations that he refused to comply with Masemola’s instructions “are all efforts to scapegoat me in the light of the allegations that have since been made by … [Mkhwanazi] … in his media briefing.”

He also pointed out, though, that Masemola had argued that the disciplinary process against Sibiya was not only based on Mkhwanazi’s allegations.

“[Masemola] claims that the SAPS is also investigating my deliberate disregard of his instructions.”

Sibiya said he had been treated differently from other police officers, including Dumisani Khumalo, who was the head of Crime Intelligence.

Read more: Khumalo arrest — cops warned that Crime Intelligence clean-up would spark State Capture-style backlash

Khumalo and six colleagues were arrested in June this year on corruption-related charges, which they denied.

They were not instructed to take leave.

Daily Maverick has reported that, ahead of their arrests, the SAPS had warned Parliament that Khumalo was being targeted via misinformation because he was cleaning up the Crime Intelligence unit.

As for Sibiya, the legal action he is driving against the police and Masemola is ongoing.

It highlights apparent factions in the state’s policing arena, with Sibiya and Mchunu among those on one side, and figures including Masemola and Mkhwanazi on the other.

Corruption inquiries

Mkhwanazi’s allegations from 6 July, meanwhile, are to be the focus of a commission of inquiry.

An ad hoc committee in Parliament is also set to focus on his accusations. On Monday, 18 August, the ad hoc committee met and spent about nine hours trying to finalise its terms of reference.

The following day its chair, Molapi Lekganyane, issued a statement saying the final version of the terms of reference would be sent to the committee’s members within two days for review before being formally adopted.

Read more: MPs discuss witness safety and evidence handling in SAPS corruption inquiry

Among the terms agreed on was that witnesses would have to submit sworn written statements.

“Other matters agreed to include access to information and protecting whistleblowers, which must be done within the relevant legal provisions,” said the statement.

It added that Mkhwanazi would be the first person to appear before the committee.

This suggests that issues relating to Sibiya and Masemola, among others, will be aired during the committee’s proceedings. DM