Sibiya bail ruling postponed as court orders affidavits on witness safety

Shadrack Sibiya’s bail application was postponed to Wednesday after the Randburg Magistrate’s Court ordered investigators to obtain affidavits from alleged victims about their safety and about possible attempts to influence them.

Magistrate Hleziphi Mkhasibe directed the investigating officer, Sergeant Nokukhanya Ndlovu, to secure affidavits addressing whether the victims fear for their lives, whether Sibiya instructed them to withdraw their cases, and whether he had contacted them. The order followed evidence led in court on Tuesday.

As Sunday World reported on 13 October, the fresh evidence concerned a 57-minute voice recording involving socialite Serge Cabonge and a man identified in court as Mr M, the father of a 16-year-old girl at the centre of the sexual grooming allegations against Sibiya. The state obtained the audio from Mr M and played it in court after the defence, which had initially presented it, told the magistrate it was not instructed to play it.

Sibiya, formerly the deputy national police commissioner for crime detection, faces charges of rape, sexual grooming of a minor and human trafficking, along with a firearms-related charge. The state alleges he sexually groomed a 16-year-old girl and raped an 18-year-old woman. He was arrested on 21 September at The Grand in Sandton, a venue that includes a hotel, restaurant and strip club. He has denied the charges.

In the recording, Cabonge disputed claims about the nature of his dealings with Sibiya. “I was not the middleman between Cat and Sibiya. I never collected money from Cat to Sibiya, they did that via Sergeant Fannie Nkosi,” he said, referring to businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. “This man threatened to kill me, why would I be close to somebody like that.” Cabonge also said Sibiya had called him recently to ask for a R200 000 loan, and confirmed, when Mr M asked, that the request was made while Sibiya was in prison. “I cannot be running around doing things for him and do not benefit, only for me to get petrol money,” he added. He further claimed to know someone who sat on the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, saying the person advised him to leave the country and would protect him if his name came up in the commission’s proceedings.

State prosecutor Velile Makasana read an affidavit by Mr M into the record. Mr M said he reported the matter to the South African Police Service in August 2026 and explained its sensitive nature to police. He said that on 18 September he received a call from the investigating officer, Sergeant Griffiths, asking him to meet at a police station to convert the inquiry into a criminal case docket. While at the station, Mr M alleged, he received a call from Sibiya, who questioned him angrily about what he was doing. Mr M told the court he put his phone on speaker so the investigating officer could hear the conversation and witness what he described as threats. According to the affidavit, Sibiya allegedly told him he was an easy person to deal with and that it would take only a short time to deal with him. Mr M said he asked police to record the alleged threats in the case docket.

“These statements have remained in my mind and are a significant reason for my present and constant fear,” Mr M said in the affidavit. He said he made a statement about the alleged threats because he feared for his life and the safety of his family, and that he knew what General Sibiya was capable of. The allegations form part of the state’s argument against granting bail.

The defence has previously relied on an affidavit by Sibiya’s wife, Sizakele Dlamini, who alleged that Mr M contacted her and wanted an opportunity to explain why he had opened the case against her husband, and that he approached her about a possible meeting with the family. The defence used those allegations to challenge the state’s contention that Sibiya posed a risk of witness interference, describing the voice note as a threat to Dlamini.

The hearing comes a day after Sibiya resigned from the South African Police Service. He had been suspended from his position as deputy national police commissioner for crime detection and submitted his resignation through his legal team on Monday, at the start of a scheduled disciplinary hearing. Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said his departure would be regarded as a dishonourable discharge because he had an ongoing disciplinary case when he resigned.

In earlier proceedings, the court heard allegations that Sibiya exchanged WhatsApp messages with the teenage complainant and requested explicit images and videos from her. The state has also raised concerns about the circumstances in which young women were allegedly taken to The Grand.

The bail application resumes on Wednesday, when the affidavits ordered by the magistrate are expected to be before the court.