Has the Madlanga Commission vindicated Mkhwanazi? The case against Shadrack Sibiya

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has long maintained that suspended deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya was at the centre of criminal networks that had infiltrated South Africa’s law enforcement agencies.

The feud between the two senior police generals has unfolded during Parliament’s ad hoc inquiry and later the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System. 

Mkhwanazi repeatedly accused Sibiya of helping dismantle investigations into organised crime and of becoming entangled with the criminal networks he was meant to combat.

Sibiya, in turn, denied every allegation, insisting he was the victim of a campaign orchestrated by Mkhwanazi and others within the SA Police Service. Returning as the parliamentary ad hoc committee’s final witness earlier this year, Mkhwanazi made it clear there would “never be peace” between the two.

When asked who he was trying to protect the country from during his explosive July 2025 allegations of security cluster corruption, Mkhwanazi pointed directly to Sibiya.

More than a year after Mkhwanazi’s media briefing triggered multiple investigations, the Madlanga Commission has now recommended that Sibiya face a criminal investigation and disciplinary action.

Second interim report

The recommendation is contained in the Madlanga Commission’s second interim report, which was handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa on 29 May.

In a statement on Thursday, 6 August, the Presidency said, “President Cyril Ramaphosa has noted the recommendations and referrals contained in the Second Interim Report”.

Alongside Sibiya, the commission recommended disciplinary action against Sergeant Fannie Nkosi, “political fixer” Brown Mogotsi, and Witness G, while recommending that criminal charges be pursued where the evidence supports them.

It also called for an urgent investigation into an alleged off-the-books Crime Intelligence operation involving Mogotsi and Witness G.

The second interim report builds on the commission’s first report, submitted in December 2025, and incorporates evidence heard since the start of 2026. The commission is expected to submit its final report on 16 November.

Before his suspension in 2025, Sibiya was the deputy national commissioner for crime detection, one of five deputy national commissioners overseeing policing nationally. A lieutenant general with nearly four decades in law enforcement, Sibiya previously headed the Hawks in Gauteng, led its Commercial Crime Unit, and served as head of the City of Johannesburg’s Anti-Corruption Unit. He was appointed deputy national commissioner for crime detection in July 2023.

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Key allegations before the commission 

Over months of evidence before both the Madlanga Commission and Parliament’s ad hoc committee, Sibiya became a key figure in a series of serious criminal allegations.

Allegations have repeatedly linked him to alleged criminal underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, whose company, Medicare24, was awarded a R360-million SAPS healthcare contract. Matlala, who faces separate cases for corruption regarding that contract and for multiple attempted murders, has been accused of using his business interests and political connections to influence South Africa’s law enforcement structures and has been implicated as a key leader of the “Big Five” criminal cartel.

Witness C told the Madlanga Commission that Matlala delivered R2-million in cash to Sibiya’s Sandton home in January 2025 to fund the purchase of a bed-and-breakfast business. Witness C further alleged that Matlala paid R300,000 towards Sibiya’s son’s engagement celebration, R80,000 towards a colleague’s promotion party, and, on another occasion, instructed that cash be left in a dustbin outside Sibiya’s Pretoria office.

The commission has heard an audio recording in which Matlala described Sibiya as “a criminal” who “loves money”.

Testimony also focused on Sibiya’s ties to Mogotsi and his dealings over the R360-million Medicare24 contract, with Sergeant Nkosi testifying that Sibiya asked him to bring Matlala in to discuss contract disputes in 2024.

Additionally, the commission heard allegations that Nkosi, a detective attached to Sibiya’s office, acted as an intermediary between Sibiya and murder accused Katiso “KT” Molefe. CCTV footage played before the commission showed Nkosi arriving at Molefe's Sandhurst home in a state-owned vehicle and leaving carrying a white bag, suspected to contain a cash bribe. Nkosi denied the allegations.

Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo testified that the Toyota bakkie Sibiya was driving when police raided his Centurion home in October 2025 was registered to convicted criminal Stuart James Scharnick, who has faced 34 criminal charges, resulting in 18 convictions.

Khumalo alleged Scharnick acted as Sibiya’s bodyguard and was sitting behind him during his appearance before Parliament’s ad hoc committee. Scharnick has denied these claims and has opened a defamation case against Khumalo. 

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Beyond his alleged relationships with individuals linked to organised crime, Sibiya has also faced scrutiny over decisions affecting the SAPS’ Political Killings Task Team (PKTT). Evidence suggested there was a prolonged dispute over Crime Intelligence appointments, which the now suspended police minister, Senzo Mchunu, later directed be frozen. The commission examined allegations that Sibiya played a central role in dismantling the PKTT.

Mkhwanazi alleged that, acting on Mchunu’s instruction, Sibiya ordered the removal of 121 PKTT case dockets in March 2025 as part of an effort to derail investigations into an alleged criminal syndicate.

Five days of scrutiny

Sibiya spent five days in the witness box before the Madlanga Commission in February. He opened his testimony by denying every allegation against him and maintained that he had never been corrupt. However, under rigorous cross-examination by the evidence leader, advocate Adila Hassim SC, critical aspects of his testimony came under severe pressure.

Sibiya acknowledged knowing Matlala and admitted that a confidential SAPS document had reached the businessman. He also conceded that he had invited Matlala to his home for his son’s engagement party and admitted sharing with Nkosi a confidential SAPS audit report on the Medicare24 contract.

He was further questioned about conflicting accounts he had given to Parliament and the commission regarding when he first met Matlala and how those dates aligned with the awarding of the Medicare24 contract.

The commission also examined Sibiya’s role in disbanding the PKTT. He admitted relying on an implementation plan that had not been formally approved and acknowledged taking possession of PKTT dockets, including matters already enrolled in court, which remained in his office for months.

He defended those decisions, arguing they were taken under the direction of Mchunu and National Commissioner Fannie Masemola.

Sibiya’s final day of testimony was marked by repeated clashes between himself and advocate Sesi Baloyi SC, whom he accused of attempting to pressure him into making admissions.

In a bid to rebut that his relationship with Matlala was evidence of corruption, Sibiya claimed that socialising with government service providers was the norm among senior SAPS officials rather than an exception. He alleged that several top-ranking police generals routinely held private, unrecorded meetings with Matlala and maintained close financial and social ties with him.

He argued that if the commission wanted to understand how Matlala secured and retained lucrative SAPS contracts, it should scrutinise the broader police leadership that repeatedly approved the Medicare24 contract before Matlala was arrested.

Sibiya’s next testimony will probably be before an SAPS disciplinary committee and after that, potentially, in court. DM