Madlanga inquiry delivers doubts and denials

Two central figures in the Madlanga commission still have a lot to answer for as the inquiry into political interference in the police approaches its final lap.

President Cyril Ramaphosa gave the commission six months to conclude its work. It is due to wrap up on March 17, but the commission is in discussions with the presidency over an extension for perhaps a further three months. There have been delays because of the festive season and the number of witnesses calling in sick.

Suspended deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya and suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu both left the witness box with lingering questions over allegations that they had worked towards aiding criminal cartel bosses through the disbandment of the political killings task team (PKTT), based in KwaZulu-Natal.

The commission wrapped up its five-day questioning of Sibiya last week. He issued blanket denials that he was in cahoots with and accepted bribes from attempted-murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.

Mchunu and Sibiya were at the centre of allegations of police capture by KZN provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi at an explosive press conference in July last year.

Commission spokesperson Jeremy Michaels confirms that the pair are not done giving evidence, “but the commission does not divulge in advance any details of when witnesses are due to appear before it”.

Mchunu answered detailed questions about his decision to disband the PKTT, weeks after an arrest affecting members of the alleged “big five” crime cartel. Mkhwanazi alleged the move was a direct result of police action against the cartel.

Mchunu’s defence was largely administrative, laced with bureaucratic explanations, but he did not explain why he issued the instruction on December 31, while national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola was on leave.

Sibiya’s defence for extracting 121 dockets from the PKTT and signing off on disbanding the team was similar, though he went further, saying he was relatively new in the post and felt compelled to give his authorisation. He said he was targeted in a factional battle raging in the South African Police Service (SAPS) and that Jacob Zuma’s MK Party was behind attempts to besmirch his reputation.

He denied that the role he played was insidious, despite testimony from two earlier police witnesses who said Sibiya’s haste in collecting the dockets was irregular.

Maj-Gen Mary Motsepe testified that protocol was not followed in the handling of the case dockets. She told the commission that Sibiya instructed her to collect the dockets from the PKTT for an “audit”.

The dockets subsequently gathered dust at national police headquarters in Pretoria until they were handed back to the PKTT through an agreement between Masemola and acting police minister Firoz Cachalia.

Sibiya simply denied allegations that he took bribes from Matlala and that Witness F, later identified as Sgt Fannie Nkosi, was a conduit for cash and information between him and Matlala. He denied receiving R2m and 20 impala buck from Matlala, despite suggestions of this in WhatsApp messages between him and Nkosi. Sibiya repeatedly complained that he was not in possession of his devices and did not know whether messages were being “inserted” in them.

Sibiya’s cross-examination exposed him as evasive at best, lying at worst. He denied playing any role in Matlala receiving a R360m contract for medical supplies, which emerged from earlier testimony from Witness C, a member of the PKTT. This witness told the commission in November that Sibiya received monthly payments from Matlala for facilitating the contract.

Sibiya’s cross-examination exposed him as evasive at best, lying at worst

Members of the PKTT, including Witness C, were called in to assist their colleagues in Gauteng with investigations involving Matlala and another alleged member of the big five, murder accused Katiso Molefe.

Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, head of crime intelligence and operational head of the PKTT, alleged that this was the core reason the team was targeted. The cartel presumed that the task team was prominent in investigations against it, hence its push for its closure.

Witness C told the commission that on the day PKTT members and their Gauteng colleagues searched Matlala’s home because of his potential involvement in the kidnapping of businessman Jerry Boshoga, and after Matlala’s arrest for attempted murder months later in 2025, Matlala told investigators that Sibiya — along with senior SAPS generals Feroz Khan and Lesetja Senona — helped him obtain the now-cancelled R360m police medical services tender.

Sibiya, Witness C alleged, was receiving monthly payments for his help in securing the tender through Nkosi, an intermediary and subordinate in the police. Nkosi fell ill during his testimony, which was initially delayed by manoeuvring from his legal team and was not concluded.

There is another witness who could shed light on the extent of Sibiya’s ties to Matlala. A return to the commission for testimony by Brown Mogotsi, an alleged intermediary between Matlala and Mchunu, was postponed this week after Mogotsi claimed to be sick. Commission chair Mbuyiseli Madlanga said Mogotsi would be arrested for contempt should he fail to produce a doctor’s note with a plausible explanation.

Last Tuesday, advocate Adila Hassim presented Sibiya with Mogotsi’s evidence from his previous appearance before the commission in November. However, Sibiya complained to the commission that he was exhausted and needed a break. Madlanga adjourned proceedings, saying Sibiya would return at a later date. Mogotsi had also described Sibiya as a potential point of contact with Matlala.

Sibiya denied being close to Matlala, despite the crime boss’s attendance at his son’s engagement party in September 2024 at his home. Matlala attended the event, Sibiya told the commission, after he was called to pick up his wife who was present and had too much to drink. WhatsApp evidence from Nkosi’s phone indicates that Sibiya sent him a message to “ask Cat to make a turn”.

So far, the commission has uncovered the extent of Matlala’s influence in SAPS and in the City of Ekurhuleni, with ties reaching into the highest levels of its metro police division and municipal administration.

Since the commission’s establishment, it has become a central theme for Ramaphosa to reform the criminal justice system. This was reflected by far-reaching commitments to criminal justice reform in his state of the nation address.

Ramaphosa committed to using an approach similar to that of Operation Vulindlela, located in the presidency to advance economic reforms, to establish a “hard-hitting new criminal justice reform initiative”. The initiative is set to focus on organised crime, corruption and the illicit arms trade through a dedicated team in the presidency.

Ramaphosa accepted and acted on the Madlanga commission’s interim report submitted to him in December, he said in a statement on January 29.

Five SAPS officials (two major-generals, two brigadiers and a sergeant) and nine Ekurhuleni officials (including suspended metro police chief Julius Mkhwanazi and former city manager Imogen Mashazi) were referred to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate and SAPS for further investigations. Ramaphosa directed Cachalia and Masemola to constitute a special investigations team, reporting to Masemola, to ensure an urgent probe.

While the commission has made significant progress, allegations of impropriety have surfaced against further senior SAPS generals, including Khan. Another missing piece is evidence from the Independent Directorate Against Corruption; Khumalo alleged it was targeting him because units under his command were investigating the cartel.

Mchunu is set to answer allegations that he attempted to coerce or coach a witness to give false evidence; he said his lawyers will address the matter and he will testify about it when he returns.

But the central question for him and Sibiya is around their desperation to see the back of the PKTT. Despite detailed questioning, their explanations remain incomplete and puzzling.

Marrian is a political analyst at the Bureau for Economic Research