The head of Crime Intelligence, Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, has told the Madlanga Commission how suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya frequently used a vehicle owned by a man with a long list of criminal charges.
Khumalo, who returned to the witness stand after falling ill last month, took the commission through a long list of criminal charges against the owner of a Toyota double-cab bakkie that Sibiya was seen driving on the day police raided his house for a search and seizure.
The owner has been identified as Scharnick Stuart James, who has 34 cases against him. He was found guilty in 18 cases, 11 were withdrawn, and he was found not guilty in five.
He showed a picture of the owner of the car in parliament during Sibiya’s appearance before the ad hoc committee.
“There are lots of questions. If you commit so many thefts and hijackings within the space of two years and you are found guilty, how many years and when are you serving your sentences? Because everything is like in a very short space of time. That is part of the investigation that is still ongoing,” he told the commission.
The commission has heard how Sibiya’s subordinates visited Katiso “KT” Molefe’s home days before the political killing task team operation.
Khumalo showed the commission CCTV footage which showed Sgt FE Nkosi, who works under Sibiya, visiting Molefe’s home on November 27 2024 about 16:31.
Nkosi, who had arrived visibly empty-handed, left Molefe’s home a few minutes later with a white paper bag.
The vehicle Nkosi used, a white BMW, was registered to the SAPS, and investigators later discovered that the car’s tracking device was not active.
“It was either not installed at all or had been removed at some point,” he told the commission.
Khumalo also said the same car was later spotted at Sibiya’s Pretoria house during a recent search and seizure operation by the political killings task team (PKTT).
He told the commission that investigators had established a link between Sgt Nkosi, Sibiya, and the network allegedly associated with Molefe and the “Big Five” cartel.
The commission has already heard evidence that Nkosi was the one moving cash between Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and Sibiya.
Khumalo also told the commission that the activation of the Hawks during the police takedown operation into the murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart in December 2024 at Molefe’s home was a clear case of interference and obstruction of justice.
He said investigators later identified Mthethwa, Molefe’s associate, as the person who activated the Hawks’ involvement during the operation to arrest Molefe.
“On the day of the takedown, we could not identify the caller. But as the investigation progressed, we managed to narrow the scope and identify Mr Mthethwa as the one who activated the call.”
“In my view, this was a clear obstruction and defeating of the ends of justice by DPCI officers, a JMPD officer, and certain members within detective services,” he said.
Khumalo said further investigations into Molefe revealed a broader criminal web that included individuals within the SAPS. He told the commission that syndicates had begun recruiting hitmen even from among serving police members.
Khumalo said Molefe had been warned about the operation by JMPD officer Johannes Mokgatle, who accessed information about vehicles near Molefe’s home using police systems. Mokgatle later admitted to this in an affidavit.
Khumalo said that during both operations linked to Molefe and his associate, Matlala, there were attempts to use the name of police minister Senzo Mchunu to discourage officers from proceeding.
“At Molefe’s place, one of the individuals said Molefe was a close friend of the minister. Later, during the operation at Matlala’s house, he told our officers they were disturbing his diary because he was due to meet the minister,” Khumalo said.
Khumalo said the interference was not unexpected, as intelligence reports months earlier had linked members of the Hawks’ tactical operations management section to individuals under investigation.
“It was not a real surprise when Hawks members arrived at Molefe’s house. We had already received information that the suspects we were investigating were linked with officers from that section,” he said.
TimesLIVE
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