Sibiya Faces Parly Post Hawks’ Raid

Focus shifts to Sibiya following the Ad Hoc Committee’s successfully conclusion of its first week of oral hearings with National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola

Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya will to day finally get the opportunity to give his side of the story in response to the explosive alle gations of corruption that have been levelled against him by KwaZulu-Natal police com missioner, Lt. Gen. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Sibiya is set to appear before parliament’s ad hoc committee this morning as part of in vestigations that were sparked by Mkhwana zi’s revelations of widespread malfeasance within the country’s criminal justice systems – which place placing Sibiya as well as police minister, Senzo Mchunu, right at the centre. His appearance before the committee takes place against a backdrop of a recent raid conducted by the Hawks at his home in Centurion last Thursday, where mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices were confiscated as part of the investigation. The raid on Sibiya’s home ran concurrently with another separate raid by the Hawks at the home of Mchunu’s chief of staff, Cedric Nkabinde. The committee’s interrogation of Sibiya, which is empowered by the National Assem bly’s Rule 253, will not only scrutinise the substance of Mkhwanazi’s allegations, but may establish eligibility for potential prose cution. The focus on Sibiya comes after the com No Lifeboats Left: Kohler Barnard’s Ship Is Sinking Growing dissent within her own ranks adds to mounting calls for her head The Democratic Alliance’s Shadow Minister of Police, Dianne Barnard. Picture: iol TGT Reporter Pressure is intensifying against veteran DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard as discontent brews within her own party. What began as murmurs of frustration has swelled into open calls for her removal, with insiders saying her political ship may finally be going under. Several senior Democratic Alliance (DA) members, speaking on condition of ano nymity, say Dianne Kohler Barnard’s recent implication at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and Parliament’s Ad Hoc Com mittee—by KwaZulu-Natal Police Com missioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi—for allegedly accessing and sharing classified information with the me dia, has become a thorn in the party’s side. During Wednesday’s committee sitting last week established to probe allegations of criminal infiltration, corruption, and po litical interference in the criminal justice system, a majority of MPs called for Kohler Barnard to recuse herself or for the DA to remove her from the committee. DA MP Ian Cameron later briefed the committee, saying the party had undertaken to consider the matter. “The honourable DKB [Dianne Kohler Barnard] is not in attendance and is follow ing proceedings virtually. No one is being recused at this stage. The party is seeking legal advice and will provide relevant feed back,” said Cameron. However, insiders within the DA say the issue has opened a deep rift within the lead ership, with some warning that indecision could cost the party dearly at the polls next year. “Comrade Barnard’s matter is no small issue. It’s even more troubling now as we prepare for elections. We have a real chance to sink the ANC’s ship at the polls, but the leadership is divided — we must now decide whether we sink with her or sink her alone,” said a senior party source. The DA, the second-largest party in the so-called government of national unity af ter the African National Congress (ANC), believes that recent political developments have created an opportunity to wrest power from the ANC. “As the DA, we are on the verge of de feating the ANC in the upcoming elections. However, we must not repeat the very mis takes we criticise the ANC for. Many mem bers have voiced their frustration over the revelations emerging from the commission jective, according to Masemola, was to seize successfully concluded its first week of oral hearings with National Police Com missioner General Fannie Masemola, who was the central figure in the committee’s pro ceedings on Thursday. Led by senior counsel and evidence lead er, Advocate Norman Arendse, Masemola took the committee through the contents of his sworn witness statement, where crucial evidence regarding organisational policy and systemic issues within the police service was heard. Among his key points was his stated preference for a gradual wind-down of the contentious Political Killings Task Team (PKTT), therefore arguing against any abrupt disbandment. The most revealing moment, however, was Masemola’s comments on the threat of inter nal corruption. Gen Masemola testified that the infiltration of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the wider Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster was being executed by a “small group of individ uals or cartels” – which various reports have alleged to be businessmen Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala and Brown Mogotsi - whose sole ob and the Ad Hoc Committee, which implicate some of our own in wrongdoing. I cannot say what will happen to comrade Barnard, but judging by the mood and the numbers, her ship is sinking,” he said. During his first appearance before the committee, KwaZulu-Natal Police Com missioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi doubled down on his accusa tion that DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard had disclosed classified crime intelligence information. Mkhwanazi argued that Kohler Barnard had overstepped her mandate by posing parliamentary questions about Crime Intel ligence property procurement in the Police Portfolio Committee — matters, he said, that should have been raised only in the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI). “She forgot she was a member of the JSCI and therefore should have known this,” he told the committee. Mkhwanazi cited examples of questions Kohler Barnard had asked in February this year, shortly after being sworn in as a JSCI member. This assertion is underscored by points raised in the terms of reference contained under issues to be addressed in Masemola’s witness statements - which he read out before the committee. In the term of reference, Masemola de clared his understanding that the committee’s investigations include the “alleged existence of an organised crime syndicate controlled by drug cartels, as well as businesspeople and its infiltration of key criminal justice system role-players involving politicians, law enforcement from SAPS and the Metro Police Division, Correctional Services, the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) and the judiciary.” Masemola also highlighted alleged corrupt relationship between Matlala, Mogotsi and Mchunu in the terms of reference, amongst others. Masemola confirmed that the Special In vestigating Unit (SIU) has been deployed to conduct lifestyle audits for senior manage ment staff within the criminal justice system as a means of combatting the scourging rot within the system. The reason the SIU was chosen, according to the Police Commissioner, is because the institution possesses the necessary capacity and operates as a crucial, independent body.