Johannesburg - Gauteng Hawks boss Shadrack Sibiya has been found guilty in the Zimbabwean rendition case that resulted in the kidnapping of Zimbabweans suspected of crimes in their country, their torture and the killing of two of them.
On Friday a disciplinary enquiry by lawfirm, Hogan Lovells, instituted into Sibiya’s conduct found him guilty on two charges including that he and former Hawks boss Anwa Dramat had clandestine meeting with Zimbawean police on cooperation to trace and arrest the suspects under the guise that they were illegal immigrants.
The enquiry found that when Sibiya and Dramat entered into such cooperation agreement, they knew that it was illegal and that there was no extradition agreement between the two countries and that any extradition or deportation had to comply with the law.
The hearing found that the agreement by Sibiya and Dramat was intended to defeat the ends of justice and undermine South Africa’s international obligations on refugees and contravene extradition and immigration laws.
Sibiya was also found guilty of gross dereliction of duty and gross misconduct for using his phone to send messages to officers who were involved in the operation of the search, tracing and arrest of the Zimbabwean nationals.
The inquiry found that Sibiya had interacted with the officers including Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie “Cowboy” Maluleke during critical stages of the operation and in turn sent more than 30 SMSes to Dramat.
In March, former National Director of Public Prosecutions Mxolisi Nxasana received a decision from Gauteng Director Advocate Sibongile Mzinyathi, to criminally charge Dramat and Sibiya connection with the illegal rendition of Zimbabweans suspected of crimes in their country.Nxasana did not act on the decision. Instead, he appointed prosecutors to review Mzinyathi's decision.
The delay to take action by Nxasana led to acting head of Hawks, Major-General Mthandazo Ntlemeza, to write a strongly-worded letter to him demanding the return of the police docket.Nxasana then asked South Gauteng DPP Andrew Chauke to decide whether to charge the pair or not.
Witness Ndeya, Shepherd Tshuma, Nelson Ndlovu and Maqhawe Sibanda were allegedly kidnapped by members of the Hawks and detained at Orlando police station in Soweto in November 2010.They were then driven to Beit Bridge and handed over to the Zimbabwean police. Maluleke said he was in charge of the operations. The rendition saga has led to the suspensions of several officials, including the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) head Robert McBride.Dramat also resigned in April following a stand off between him and Police Minister Nathi Nhleko who suspended him last year. The court declared his suspension was invalid and unconstitutional and ordered he should be reinstated. Dramat was placed on special leave as his lawyers worked out his exit strategy. There was speculation that as part of the settlement, Dramat was granted immunity to prosecution for the rendition. McBride was suspended by Nhleko, who accused him of altering the first report that implicated Sibiya and Dramat and produced a second one which exonerated them.
On Friday Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi welcomed the outcome of the hearing but said it was “not something to celebrate”.
“Here we are talking about an elite unit which has to lead in the protection of its constitutional mandate,” he said. “The ruling should be seen as a warning to other members of the Hawks that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable and we don’t want to see it. The ruling has also vindicated the acting head of the Hawks (Ntlemeza) against whom allegations were made that this process was just a witch-hunt.”
Attempts to get comment from Sibiya or his lawyer Victor Nkwashu went unanswered on Friday.
Saturday Star