Johannesburg – The former head the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) in Gauteng, Shadrack Sibiya, on Thursday told the South Gauteng High Court that almost everyone in his group who investigated the matter of former head of intelligence Richard Mdluli was sacked in the police force.
Sibiya was summoned by the court to provide information pertaining to his role in investigating Mdluli on the attempted murder and murder charges of the late Oupa Ramogibe, who was shot in 1999.
Mdluli is standing trial with his co-accused Mthembeni Mthunzi on charges relating to the kidnapping of Ramogibe who had an affair with Mdluli's lover, Tshidi Buthelezi. Mdluli and Mthunzi are on trial for allegedly intimidating, kidnapping and assaulting Ramogibe.
The have pleaded not guilty. Sibiya followed numerous officers who testified during the trial, they said they were instructed by him to obtain statements from witnesses. One of the officers, Johannes Du Plessis, mentioned that Sibiya specifically instructed him to implicate Mdluli in the crimes when writing a statement.
Du Plessis's claims support Mdluli's theory that there was a conspiracy by high ranking police officers to oust him from being a national police commissioner. Sibiya told the court after he started investigating Mdluli 2010, he experienced misfortunes which led to the demise of his career.
He and former Hawks boss, Anwa Dramat, were dismissed in 2015 for the unlawful rendition of Zimbabwean nationals back in 2010. To support his claims, Sibiya said the people who should have been held accountable for the illegal rendition should have been Mdluli and his team.
"Crime intelligence under Mdluli conducted the illegal rendition but we were the ones who suffered the consequences and were left in the cold... We just know behind our minds that we are suffering because of the matter we handled," he said.
Sibiya has previously accused the acting national head of the Hawks, Berning Ntlemeza, who dismissed him, of being motivated by the desire to take revenge on behalf of his “ally”, Mdluli. The North Gauteng High Court found last Friday that Ntlemeza's appointment was unlawful.
He is appealing the ruling. Sibiya reiterated that he was not directly involved in investigating Mdluli but had appointed well skilled investigators to handle the matter and they would report to him.
A number of police officers who testified, denied any knowledge of operation uLibambe lingashoni (Don't let sun set) which Mdluli claimed was engineered to execute his downfall. Sibiya explained that he was the one who came up with the name, and there was no motive behind the name or was he targeting anyone.
"The project was not even registered," he said The matter was adjourned to Friday.