Suspended Deputy National Commissioner of Crime Detection Shadrack Sibiya is apparently facing arrest.(Photo: eNCA) 
Suspended Deputy National Commissioner of Crime Detection Shadrack Sibiya, whose name has surfaced several times in hearings into accusations that criminals have infiltrated the police service, apparently faces arrest.
Shortly after 12.30pm on Thursday, 9 October 2025, his lawyer Ian Levitt confirmed to Daily Maverick that he was on his way to Sibiya’s home and said: “I can confirm that police are there.”
It was not immediately clear where exactly Sibiya lived.
Levitt told Daily Maverick that it was “correct” that police officers wanted to arrest him. This appeared to be in relation to a case of defeating the ends of justice.
However, when Daily Maverick asked national police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe if officers were at Sibiya’s home on Thursday, she said: “I’m not aware of police officers just a lot of journalists.”
Investigations
Sibiya’s name has cropped up several times in two hearings — an ad hoc Parliamentary hearing and the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry — that are investigating accusations first made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi about three months ago.
Mkhwanazi held a press conference on 6 July 2025 during which he made several high-level accusations, including that a drug trafficking cartel had infiltrated policing and politics in South Africa.
Other allegations he made included that Sibiya played a role in trying to disband KwaZulu-Natal’s Political Killings Task Team.
Read more: Police war of words continues as Sibiya accuses Masemola of ‘tainted’ process against him
It was subsequently alleged that the plans to disband the task team were made to effectively protect criminal suspects.
Sibiya denied any wrongdoing, but was suspended.
‘No crisis here’
While there was some confusion over Sibiya, National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola was testifying at Parliament’s ad hoc committee meeting.
He was its third witness and followed Mkhwanazi, who spent two days in the witness seat. Masemola on Thursday made it clear that while the South African Police Service (SAPS) was experiencing challenges, it was not in crisis.
He said the challenges the SAPS was experiencing were due to various factors.
“Since Covid-19, the country has never been the same.”
Masemola said that expectations on police officers had expanded beyond what they were mandated to do.
“Policing is quite under pressure, and unfortunately society looks for everything from the police,” he said.
Masemola referenced examples including that if a child was not attending school, the expectation was that the police would sort it out.
Read more: Jail ‘captured journalists’ and ‘negligent MPs with leaked intelligence’ — Mkhwanazi
Another example Masemola made was that if a spouse was in a spat of sort, the police were called. Some of the matters officers were expected to deal with were at times better suited to other departments, including social development.
Summarising the broad expectations on police officers, Masemola said: “You don’t go into a McDonald’s and order a beer. With the South African Police Service, it’s like that.”
He was emphasising that demands on officers exceeded what they were trained to deal with. Masemola explained that police resources were “not in abundance”, while the population was growing.
“We’re trying our best with what we have,” he said.
The ad hoc committee’s hearings continue. DM