Major-General Richard Shibiri, head of SAPS Organised Crime Unit, has denied allegations of attempting to bribe police officers investigating the April 2012 murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Major-General Richard Shibiri, head of the SAPS Organised Crime Unit, on Thursday dismissed claims that he was involved in attempts to bribe police officers investigating the April 2024 murder of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart.
The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry previously heard that Swart was mistakenly killed and that a whistle-blower, who exposed a company linked to businessman Katiso "KT" Molefe for overpricing in a Transnet tender, was believed to be the target of a suspected attack.
The bribery allegation against Shibiri stemmed from Witness A's testimony that Shibiri was at a party, also attended by Witness A, hosted by businessman Vusi Ndlala at his Pretoria hotel. Shibiri disputed that it was a party, but he was present.
According to Witness A, the social gathering was allegedly another attempt to test whether he was vulnerable to accepting a bribe after Shibiri alerted him and two other investigating officers on May 16, 2024, about the potential bribery attempt.
Shibiri is accused of interfering in the Swart murder investigation, which implicated Molefe and three other accused.
He testified that at the May 16, 2024 meeting, he warned investigators about a potential bribe attempt. He said he received information that an attorney was given a bag of money to approach them, and to target the prosecutor or magistrate. He also mentioned a possible hit on the investigators if they refused.
He disputed Witness A's claim that he mentioned "three envelopes flying", but confirmed he warned them about bribery and a bag of money left with an attorney.
He said he cautioned the investigators against taking bribes, but recommended a risk assessment and working from "a safe house" under police guard.
Evidence leader Advocate Lee Segeels-Ncube questioned Shibiri's warning, saying it was odd that the same people made the same statement, indicating Shibiri did not explicitly tell them not to take the bribe.
She said: "I am not saying that you told them to take the money. I am saying there is a grey area for them as investigators. You are not expressly saying to them to take the money. You are saying to them that there is a bribe available."
But Shibiri claimed he was considering entrapment of the would-be bribery, aiming to catch them in the act.
Shibiri told the commission he kept his source confidential and dismissed Witness A's claim that it was Ndlala.
Shibiri testified that he often met with his friends and top police officers at a hotel owned by Ndlala, whom he identified as Makhubela, in Pretoria so that they could entertain themselves.
The commission heard that on May 25, 2024, Witness A was invited to a celebration party at the same hotel venue, where Shibiri was also present
Segeels-Ncube highlighted Witness A's suspicion that the party was a second attempt to test if he would accept a bribe, given it was his first time seeing Shibiri there after their May 16 meeting.
Shibiri said: "That is silly for Witness A to think what he thought because he visited the place invited by somebody, and the reason that he never saw me there does not mean I cannot be there. That is a private place, and that is a hotel."
He told the commission that on May 16, he had warned investigators about the suspects arrested in connection with the Swart murder, describing them as dangerous contract killers previously employed by the late Pretoria taxi boss Mswazi Msibi.
He was questioned about his absence from Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya's celebration party, especially since Sibiya expected feedback on an assignment he had given him.
In a recorded conversation with Witness A, Shibiri said he believed Sibiya wanted to ask him for information he was seeking for the "other side", not National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola.
When pressed about "the other side", Shibiri initially cited a police faction but quickly changed his tune, saying he meant the Molefe family.
He later admitted he had been untruthful about "the other side" and expressed willingness to face the commission's consequences.
According to him, Sibiya called to inform him that Molefe's family wanted to know where he was being held after he was arrested.
Shibiri's testimony will resume on Friday
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