This is General Shadrack Sibiya, the former head of the Gauteng Hawks, whom Chicco Twala asked to intervene via text message to save his son Longwe, and General Sibiya obliged.

This is General Shadrack Sibiya, the former head of the Gauteng Hawks, whom Chicco Twala asked to intervene via text message to save his son Longwe, and General Sibiya obliged.

KZN police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on Sunday blamed police minister Senzo Mchunu for the dissolution of the political killings task team after the team had uncovered a drug cartel in Gauteng allegedly involving senior police officers, politicians, prosecutors and members of the judiciary. Ten members of the team had been deployed to investigate a syndicate at the request of the Gauteng organised crime investigation unit. He also accused national deputy police commissioner responsible for detectives Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya of withdrawing all case dockets from the team and transferring them to his office, where he claimed they have gathered dust.

Former Gauteng Hawks head General Shadrack Sibiya has broken his silence, lashing out at rumours that he took a R1 million bribe from veteran musician Sello “Chicco” Twala in exchange for protecting his son Longwe from facing charges related to the murder of soccer star Senzo Meyiwa.

Sibiya was responding to explosive social media claims by a parody Twitter account: Man’s Not Barry Roux which triggered old allegations that Longwe, who was at Kelly Khumalo’s mother’s house in Spruitview, where Meyiwa was shot dead, was involved in the October 2014 killing and Twala had helped cover it up.

Over the past few weeks, the parody account has caused a frenzy with more claims that Twala went as far as paying Sibiya R1m to protect his son, who allegedly used his father’s gun to commit the murder.

A tweet with Sibiya’s face posted on the account a few days ago claims: “This is the former head of the Gauteng Hawks, General Shadrack Sibiya, whom Chicco Twala sent a text message asking for his intervention in saving his son Longwe & Shadrack Sibiya intervened. #SenzoMeyiwa #JusticeForSenzoMeyiwa”.

This was followed by another explosive tweet from the same account: “Former Gauteng Hawks Shadrack Sibiya was offered R1m by Chicco Twala, the meeting took place in Sello Chicco Twalas house & Longwe Twala was present. #SenzoMeyiwa #JusticeForSenzoMeyiwa

In an interview with The Sunday Independent, Sibiya, now City of Joburg’s head of Forensic Investigations, said shortly after the shooting, he received a call from Gauteng deputy provincial commissioner and head of detectives Major General Tebello Mosikili in which she informed him that the soccer star had been gunned down.

“I immediately called my team and we met at the hospital where Senzo was rushed to. When we arrived there were so many people, most of whom were distraught, including then Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba and a number of soccer players.”

Sibiya said the Hawks team rushed to the murder scene where they found many people including high profile figures such as Gauteng Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane.

“After we secured the crime scene, we interviewed all those who witnessed the murder. These included among others Senzo’s girlfriend Kelly, her sister and Senzo’s childhood friend from KwaZulu-Natal whom he had invited that weekend.”

“Despite crying hysterically, Senzo’s friend did manage to give us a detailed account of the events prior to and after the shooting. Sibiya was reluctant to divulge further details, citing an ongoing investigation by the police.

“At the scene, a decision was taken that the case would be handled by a high-level task team. My involvement and that of my team ended,” said Sibiya.

While Sibiya refuted allegations that he had accepted a bribe from Twala, he admitted he had met the veteran musician.

“Yes, Chicco did call me asking for a meeting. While he was on his way to my office, I decided to call the detectives who were handling the case. I was reluctant to meet Chicco alone.

“The other reason was I wanted to introduce him to the officials handling the case. Remember, this was a case of huge public interest and all of us were eager to crack it. It was important to listen to everyone.”

Sibiya said at the meeting, Twala expressed his frustration with the manner in which the case was being handled. He gave his own version of events and appealed to the detectives to speed up the investigation. He even offered to assist the team in its investigation.

“Since that meeting I have never met with nor received a call from Chicco,” said Sibiya.

Contacted for a comment, Twala confirmed meeting Sibiya and a team of detectives. He said he requested the meeting to assist the investigators whom he requested to broaden their scope of their investigation.

“At no stage did I offer anyone a bribe. If my son was involved in the killing, I would not hesitate to hand him over to the authorities. Faceless people must stop resorting to social media to spread malicious rumours with are destroying other people’s lives,” said the singer.

“Another thing that most people do not know is that Kelly was very much in love with Senzo. I find it inconceivable that she would conceal the murder of the man who fathered her child and with whom she was so much in love.”

Like Twala, Sibiya had harsh words for the user of the twitter parody account, warning him to refrain from using social media to destroy careers and reputations. He also called on authorities to investigate the user/s of the parody twitter account adding that failure to do so would see more careers and lives destroyed.

“Claims by these faceless individuals that I took a bribe from Chicco are a malicious attempt by rogue and dodgy individuals who are hell-bent on tarnishing my good reputation.”

Asked who he thought was behind the rumours, Sibiya said during his tenure as head of the Hawks in Gauteng he had made many powerful enemies.

“My track record speaks for itself. I have a 100% success rate in the arrests related to police killings and cash-in-transit heists.

“Instead of pursuing a sinister agenda against me, anyone with evidence of wrongdoing on my part should present such evidence to the police. Senzo’s murder was very painful to his family, friends and millions of soccer fans. I find it highly repulsive and immoral for anyone to play with the emotions of Senzo’s family and his fans to pursue a sinister self-serving agenda.”

Sibiya and former Hawks boss Anwa Dramat were dismissed in 2015 for the unlawful rendition of Zimbabwean nationals back in 2010.

Sibiya is adamant that he played no role whatsoever in the saga and added that the allegations were revenge for his investigation into murder allegations against former intelligence boss Richard Mdluli.

Sibiya expressed confidence that those behind Meyiwa’s murder could still be brought to justice. So confident was Sibiya, he felt that if he could be given a chance to be part of the investigating team, the case could be cracked.

“Remember how long it took investigators to eventually bring to book the killer of Constable Rasuge?” asked Sibiya. He was referring to the 2004 murder of Pretoria constable Francis Rasuge whose body was only discovered eight years after her murder.

Meyiwa, the former Bafana-Bafana and Orlando Pirates star, was shot dead four years ago in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, while visiting Khumalo, his then girlfriend.

Meanwhile, the SAPS have denied rumours circulating on social media that tomorrow two suspects will be arrested in connection with his murder.

Shadrack Sibiya

National police commissioner Masemola announced in mid-2023 that he had appointed then major-general Shadrack Sibiya to the position of deputy national commissioner of crime detection, promoting him to the rank of lieutenant-general. This was intended to strengthen investigative capacity within the police, the commissioner said. 

He had rejoined the police as head of operations the previous year. Sibiya started his career as a student constable in 1989 at the Hammanskraal SAPS Academy and in the Knysna detectives unit.

He rose in the ranks to become a former head of the Hawks in Gauteng. Sibiya controversially lost this job over allegations of being involved in the unlawful rendition in 2010 of Zimbabweans wanted in that country for the murder of a police officer. He was cleared of this, with the move against him deemed a political conspiracy. At his disciplinary inquiry, he testified he had been the victim of a conspiracy to remove him from office, because of his attempts to prosecute the head of crime intelligence at the time, Lt-Gen Richard Mdluli, on fraud and corruption-related charges. Mdluli’s case is still being heard in the courts.

Sibiya also served as head of group forensics and investigation services for the City of Johannesburg and won a court case ordering his reinstatement after a disproved assertion that his unit was spying on councillors. 

He has stated publicly that he is interested in becoming the national head of the Hawks, since last month’s retirement of Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya.

Nhlanhla Sibusiso Mkhwanazi

He became a student constable in 1993 and rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant-general in 2011. He holds a BTech degree in policing and a national diploma in police administration.