Suspended SAPS Organised Crime Unit head Major-General Richard Shibiri faced a torrid time at the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry this week.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Suspended SA Police Service (SAPS) Organised Crime Unit head Major-General Richard Shibiri faced a barrage of questions from the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry this week and was forced to admit to lying under oath.
Shibiri testified about his role in the aftermath of the arrest of suspects in the murder of Q-Tech engineer Armand Swart in Vereeniging in 2024 and his intervention, where he claimed he was speaking to the investigating officer in the matter on behalf of the family when he had initially indicated he required an update for the police’s top brass on the nature of the charges.
One of the suspects in the matter was Katiso “KT” Molefe, who Shibiri admitted was a member of the so-called group of five businesspeople (Big Five cartel).
He was cornered by Commissioner Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC, who asked why his response kept changing.
“You can’t say now when the question is repeated, you say the other side is now the family. It means you’re lying because you can’t have two different answers for the same question; it’s either the police or the family. The answer cannot change every minute or so,” Khumalo said.
The commissioner continued: “When you said it was his side of the SAPS factions, you were lying to the commission.”
Shibiri responded: “I will take that.”
Khumalo quickly interjected: “No, no. I’m asking you, don’t take anything. Were you lying to the commission when you said it is one faction within SAPS? Were you lying to this commission?”
Shibiri said: “No, I was thinking about the factions, but I don’t have facts to support that.”
Khumalo pressed the matter: “That can only mean your first answer was not truthful. Was it not truthful?”
Shibiri initially asked and then admitted: “When I said the factions? Yes.”
Khumalo was relentless: “So I must take it that you have lied to this commission and consequences should flow from that?”
A defeated Shibiri told Khumalo: “Ja, let me concede on that.”
Shibiri also gave evidence that the then SAPS Sedibeng deputy district commissioner Brigadier Mbangwa Nkhwashu was his homeboy from Tzaneen, Limpopo, and that they met on weekends as friends to drink, and that their gatherings were not work-related.
In October last year, Witness B, the lead investigator in Swart’s murder case, testified that she was told not to oppose bail for Molefe and police detective Warrant Officer Michael Pule Tau, one of the accused in the matter, alongside Danny Mabusela and Musa Kekana.
Nkhwashu also brought clothes for Molefe after he was arrested for Swart’s murder, after claiming he was his cousin.
During his testimony, Shibiri battled to explain the R70,000 he received from attempted murder accused businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Shibiri claimed he borrowed the money to pay for repairs to his son's vehicle after his insurance claim had been rejected.
However, bank statements revealed he spent approximately R22,000 at Gucci and Louis Vuitton in Sandton, Johannesburg, after receiving the money.
The commission previously heard from Witness C that Matlala promised to give Shibiri between R80,000 and R100,000 for “beverages”.
Shibiri has admitted that some of the money was used to buy alcohol for a celebration at his home in Limpopo.
The commission resumes on Monday.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za