Suspended deputy national police commissioner for crime detection Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya and the police ministry’s chief of staff Cedric Nkabinde allegedly opposed a “phased winding down” of the political killings task team (PKTT), demanding its immediate disbandment instead.
This was according to testimony presented on Tuesday by deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Tebello Mosikili to parliament’s ad hoc committee.
The committee is investigating allegations of corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system, including the allegedly irregular disbandment of the PKTT.
Mosikili, who was serving as the acting national police commissioner when the directive was issued, informed the committee that the email containing the instruction was forwarded by Nkabinde.
The recipients included herself, national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola, Maj-Gen Frengy Sebola and Brig Lethoko. Notably, five others were copied on the mail, including an unofficial Gmail account whose owner remains unknown to Mosikili.
Though Sibiya was not copied on the email, Mosikili testified that he later visited her office to discuss the directive, a move that caught her off guard.
“He informed me that he had called the national commissioner and spoken to him, and that the national commissioner indicated that we must prepare the report for the minister as requested in the directive,” she said.
Mosikili expressed concern over the breach of protocol.
“I was surprised that he chose to sideline me as the acting national commissioner and engage the national commissioner directly while he was on leave regarding a matter I was currently responsible for. I cannot verify whether that conversation with the national commissioner actually took place.”
After this encounter, Mosikili directed Sibiya to submit a report by January 14 for the national commissioner’s consideration and the minister’s final approval.
According to Mosikili, tensions culminated in a meeting on March 6, when a presentation on the PKTT’s future was delivered by crime intelligence boss Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo.
Khumalo proposed that if disbandment were to occur, it should take the form of a transition. Under this plan, the PKTT would be integrated into the serious and violent crimes component (murder and robbery unit) within the detective and forensic services division.
Mosikili said while she and Masemola supported this transitional approach, Sibiya and Nkabinde were opposed.
“They, along with the minister, were adamant that the PKTT must be disbanded immediately,” Mosikili said.
“The discussion revolved around winding down as an option, but it quickly shifted toward finding ways to execute the disbandment and manage the subsequent transition.”
Mosikili reiterated that Sibiya and Nkabinde were vocal in their rejection of Khumalo’s gradual plan.
“The specific words used in the meeting were, ‘But the minister gave the directive that it must be disbanded.’ Nkabinde even suggested that we were disregarding or refusing to implement the minister’s instructions,” she testified.
When questioned about Nkabinde’s involvement in the meeting, Mosikili described his participation as highly irregular.
“It was not appropriate for him to be involved in such matters unless he was advising the minister. This was a clear overreach for someone in the position of chief of staff.”
Masemola previously testified that Sibiya pushed for the disbandment of the PKTT despite not being part of its operations.
“I indicated to him to leave the matter, but he was of the view that the disbandment should happen immediately,” Masemola said.
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