Johannesburg - Suspended Gauteng Hawks boss Major-General Shadrack Sibiya was dismissed on Friday following an internal disciplinary hearing which found him guilty of the illegal rendition of Zimbabweans.
Presiding officer Mxolisi Zondo found Sibiya, in his capacity as Hawks boss, failed to prevent the rendition of Zimbabwean nationals.
Sibiya’s former boss Anwa Dramat was offered a R3 million golden-handshake to vacate his position while he was still on suspension and after the Helen Suzman Foundation had successfully challenged his suspension in the high court.
There have been several people who have been suspended since the beginning of the probe into the illegal renditions. They include Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride, who was suspended by Police Minister Nathi Nhleko who accused him of misleading the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for allegedly altering his original rendition reports implicating Dramat and Sibiya.
Zondo said Sibiya had made a failed attempt to secure a similar severance package to that of Dramat during his evidence in mitigation of the sentence.
He apparently submitted there was a disparity in the way he was treated compared to Dramat as both “may have been involved in the illegal rendition”.
Sibiya further submitted the internal hearing had found he and Dramat had “acted in concert to approve and organise a seriously unlawful operation” but Dramat was not punished for his role.
The hearing heard that, instead of punishing Dramat, he was offered a severance package of R3m, the equivalent of a R60 000-a-month salary until his retirement age of 60.
Sibiya had submitted it would be unfair to punish him with any serious form of punishment, such as dismissal, when Dramat, a more senior officer and his boss, was allowed and presumably encouraged to quit without the indignity of a dismissal and loss of an income.
Arguing for his dismissal, the Hawks management said Sibiya was responsible to fight against high-priority crimes, such as ATM bombings and other violent crimes but chose to allow members of his unit to abandon their responsibilities and engage in illegal operations. “… The consequences of the illegal operation are that there has been a breach of laws of the country, which included section 35 of the constitution and the Immigration Act as well as international law.”
In dismissing Sibiya, Zondo agreed with the Hawks management that “it is true Sibiya may not have played a key role in the illegal rendition… It was common cause Colonel Leslie Maluleke was the one who played the leading role in the illegal renditions. However, that does not detract from the fact he nonetheless played a role, whether active or passive, and was complicit (in) the illegal rendition.”
Zondo said Sibiya as a senior cop ought to have been exemplary.
On Sibiya’s claims of unfair treatment, Zondo said Dramat chose to accept a severance package while Sibiya decided to challenge the allegations against him.
“It may well be that Dramat demonstrated some of willingness to leave the DPCI (the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) without a need to subject himself to the disciplinary proceedings. It may well be for that reason he then engaged the DPCI with a view to enter into some form of a separation agreement.
“There is absolutely nothing that would have prevented Sibiya from similarly engaging the DPCI with a view to entering into some kind of separation agreement and I am not told that this was ever done at any stage and perhaps refused by the DPCI, in which case the issue of consistency or inconsistency then comes into play,” Zondo said.
He said Sibiya acted within his right to challenge the charges against him and Dramat opted for a package. “It would be one thing if, while on the (one) hand Sibiya was being disciplined, Dramat on the other hand was not being disciplined and yet they were said to have acted in concert, which would indeed amount to inconsistency in my view,” Zondo said.
He ruled that dismissal was the only appropriate sentence for Sibiya because of the breakdown of trust between him and his employer.
Sibiya’s lawyer, Victor Nkhwashu, could not be reached on his cellphone for comment.
Sunday Independent