City of Johannesburg advisor reveals irregularities in Sibiya's appointment

A City of Johannesburg (CoJ) senior official said the appointment of Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya as the head of Group Forensic and Investigations Services (GFIS) eight years ago in the metro was irregular.

Testifying before the Ad Hoc Committee on Thursday, Special Projects Advisor in City Manager's Office, Mesuli Mlandu, said he was supporting the evidence by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in relation to his attempts to prevent Sibiya’s promotion to his current post in the SAPS.

Mlandu said he had furnished reports pertaining to Sibiya’s employment at the metro to former minister of Police Bheki Cele and Cooperative and Governance minister Thembi Nkadimeng after his re-instatement to SAPS in 2022.

“When I wrote to the ministers, in the main, I wanted to communicate the message that they were about to appoint someone who should be charged criminally.”

He also said Sibiya had applied to be the head of forensic investigations unit when the director post was advertised in October 2016.

Interviews ran on November 7 and he was appointed the following day.

Two months later, Mlandu said, Sibiya masqueraded himself as the head of the GFIS, yet there was no recruitment for the group’s head.

He said an affidavit Sibiya deposed in court, aimed to set aside an investigative report into his appointment, stated that he was appointed through a report that was signed by then CoJ DA mayor and now ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba.

“Mayors don’t have appointing powers. Council appoints the heads of departments.”

Sibiya’s initial appointment was done after the competency tests were conducted, Mlandu said.

Legal advice was sought from a legal firm, which reviewed the documents related to Sibiya’s employment, and advised that a full-blown investigation be launched because “there seems to be prima facie evidence that General Sibiya was fraudulently employed”.

Mlandu questioned his initial appointment to the CoJ, saying he had been appointed after he failed a competency assessment.

“His appointment should have been reversed. There ought not to be appointment without knowing he is competent or not. You have got a fellow who fails competency assessment in November.”

He insisted that the appointment of a head of department was approved by the council in line with the Municipal Structures Act.

“There is no other way… You had a bogus head of department operating for five years.”

Mlandu said when the irregularities emerged, the mayor at the time was Mpho Phalatse and speaker Vasco da Gama, who blocked the tabling of the report to the council meeting.

“They created an opportunity for Sibiya to launch an application to set aside this report. A decision was taken not to oppose the application.”

According to Mlandu, Sibiya had testified before the inquiry that he was cleared by the court because his application was unopposed.

“That did not save him because somewhere in 2023, another report managed to enter council because there was a shift of power happening when the administration moved from the DA to the ANC.”

The CoJ council established a special independent investigating committee in 2023 to investigate the Group Forensic Investigative Services, which was led by Sibiya, who by then was reinstated at the SAPS in 2022.

This was apparently at about the same time Sibiya was set to be promoted to deputy national police commissioner.

Mlandu also said the CoJ had discovered that Sibiya had illegally bought spyware equipment in 2019 for technical surveillance measures.

He said the State Security Agency found that one of the devices was for identification of eavesdropping function that could not be repurposed for any other function.

However, there was another that was used for criminal investigation and its possession required permission from the Justice Minister.

“Only the SAPS are allowed to be in possession of that equipment. I don’t know where the equipment was bought from, but what I do know is they are not necessarily bought inside the country,” Mlandu added.

He said had Cele and SAPS National Commissioner Fannie Masemola done proper vetting, they should have called the CoJ to establish whether there was any outstanding matter regarding Sibiya.

“We would have told them that he is a fugitive from the law. He has not been cleared by CoJ.”

He also said Cele’s office was shared the report regarding Sibiya and contrary to the former minster’s claims that he never received the report nor knew Mlandu.

Cele’s chief of staff had acknowledged in an email in August 2022 that it had been brought to his attention.

“You can’t have a senior figure in the public service who comes here and tell lies,” Mlandu said.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za