MKHWEBANE OPINES SIBIYA WAS PROTECTED BY MASHABA ETAL WAY BACK

Former Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane

Former Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane opines that embattled National Deputy Commissioner: Crime Detection Shadrack Sibiya was protected by ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and several other people way back when her office found irregularities regarding his appointment as head of Group Forensic and Investigation Services (GFIS) in the City of Joburg Municipality.

In the case of “Anonymous v City of Johannesburg,” described as Report No 21 of 2020/21, an investigation was conducted by Mkhwebane’s office regarding, among other allegations, the legitimacy of establishing the GFIS as well as the appointment of General Shadrack Sibiya as its Executive Head.

At the time of its establishment with Sibiya as its head in April 2017, the then incumbent Mayor of the City of Joburg Herman Mashaba said the mandate of the GFIS was to do the following in the City of Joburg:

1. Fight crime and corruption.

2. Prevent theft of assets.

3.Investigate property-related crimes.

4.Address maladministration.

5. Provide forensic and cyber services.

6.Ensure legal action is taken against perpetrators regarding the aforesaid transgressions.

Be that as it may Mkhwebane’s office found the following irregularities in the appointment of Sibiya as Executive Head of GFIS:

1. The job description for Sibiya’s role as Head of GFIS was approved only after his actual appointment.

2. Salary and role upgrades were implemented without the approval of Joburg Municipality Council; sidestepping the required processes.

3. Failure to secure the necessary approval from the City of Joburg Municipality Council regarding the said upgrades breached the Municipal Structures Act.

“But Mr Mashaba took these findings against him and Sibiya on review and he succeeded in this regard because among other factors, the then Acting Public Protector didn’t oppose this application for review by Mashaba,” explained Mkhwebane.

Another matter that compromised Mkhwebane’s investigations into Sibiya’s irregular appointment was that certain information regarding Sibiya’s unsuitability to work as Head of the GFIS had been withheld from him.

This information, in the form of the Competency Assessment Report, stated that Sibiya was not suitable to be appointed to the said position.

The information was revealed only in April 2022 by then Acting City Manager of Joburg Floyd Brink, who put the blame of failure to disclose this information on City of Joburg officials Dr Lukhwareni and one Mr Mogashoa.

This was long after Mkhwebane had investigated and given a ruling on the case and was actually on suspension from work as the Public Protector.

“This lack of disclosure, attributed to Dr Lukhwareni and Mr Mogashoa, may constitute an offence under the Public Protector Act and should have prompted plans for a criminal investigation by the SAPS,” said Mkhwebane.

“The police failed to investigate this matter even though a case was opened in this regard,” she lamented.

“This matter was a subject of discussion at the ad hoc Committee in Parliament and my opinion is that a demand must be made for the minutes of the City of Joburg Council to be sent for perusal by the ad hoc Committee,” she said.

Mkhwebane opines that if Sibiya had been exposed way back then as being unsuitable to hold the position of the GFIS boss, then he wouldn’t have been allowed to make his way back into the police force and occupy a critical, high position of National Deputy Commissioner: Crime Detection and that the shenanigans he is now alleged to have committed would have not happened.

Mkhwebane asserts that if Herman Mashaba had not applied for a review of her findings regarding Sibiya’s irregular appointment, and the then Acting Public Protector had opposed Mashaba’s application for a review in court, and Dr Lukhwareni and Mr Mogashoa had not withheld information regarding Sibiya’s incompetence to hold the GFIS top position, and the police had made efforts to familiarise themselves with the City of Joburg’s Competence Assessment Report regarding Sibiya’s unsuitability, then Sibiya would have been stopped in his tracks a long time ago.

A perusal of Shadrack Sibiya’s background shows that he is no stranger to controversy.

In 2015 Sibiya was fired from his position as the boss of the Hawks in Gauteng after being accused of having been part of police officers who condoned the illegal rendition of illegal Zimbabweans back into their country where some of them were subsequently killed as they were wanted criminals in that country.

In 2021 Public Protector Mkhwebane ruled that his appointment as head of GFIS was irregular and Sibiya eventually resigned from this position down the line.

In 2025 he was fingered by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi as being responsible for, among other things, ordering that 121 police dockets be taken away from KwaZulu Natal and brought to his office in Pretoria.

This is one of the factors that led to the establishment of the Madlanga Commission.