Suspended Crime Intelligence head, Maj-Gen. Richard Shibiri, returned to the Madlanga Commission to resume his testimony on Thursday.
Image: Kamogelo Moichela / IOL News
Suspended Crime Intelligence head Richard Shibiri is expected to return to the Madlanga Commission after bank records revealed he had more than R50,000 in his account shortly before accepting a R70,000 loan from alleged tycoon, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Shibiri appeared before the commission on Wednesday, where he acknowledged borrowing the money from Matlala in September 2024, saying he needed the funds to repair his son’s damaged car.
But the commission’s evidence leader, adv. Thabang Pooe confronted Shibiri with bank statements indicating he had sufficient funds at the time, raising questions about why a senior Crime Intelligence official would seek financial assistance from a businessman already facing corruption allegations linked to SAPS.
“Certainly, in your account, what it shows is that you had the money to assist your son without a loan from Matlala,” Pooe told the inquiry.
Shibiri rejected the suggestion that the loan was unnecessary or improper, insisting it was a personal financial decision.
“I decide how I want to use my money,” he said. “It’s not about what you have there. I decided I wanted to use my money for other things, knowing that in December I would receive more than R100,000 as a bonus.”
He told the commission that he repaid the R70,000 in December 2024.
However, the timing of that repayment drew sharp questioning from commission chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
The repayment came in the same month police raided Matlala’s home twice, part of investigations surrounding the businessman’s dealings.
Madlanga put it directly to Shibiri that the repayment could have been an attempt to retroactively frame the money as a loan once scrutiny around Matlala intensified.
“You saw that the police were catching on to Matlala,” Madlanga said, “and you decided that money that had been paid to you, not as a loan”.
Madlanga suggested to Shibiri that he had pay back the money so that it seemed like a loan.
Shibiri firmly denied the allegation.
“That’s incorrect,” he replied. “If I wanted money from Matlala that was not a loan, I would have preferred cash so there wouldn’t be a trail.”
The proceedings are expected to begin at 9:30am.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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