Sibiya could face life behind bars if found guilty of rape
Police deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya could face life imprisonment if found guilty of rape, a legal expert says.
Sibiya faces five charges, including the rape of an 18-year-old, sexual grooming of a 16-year-old child of an employee and a charge of trafficking in people.
Sibiya, who had been on the radar of the task team investigating matters from the Madlanga commission, was arrested on Monday afternoon.
The rape allegedly took place in May 2026, according to the charge sheet seen by Business Day. The charge sheet details how Sibiya allegedly took the 18-year-old and her friends to The Grand, “a strip club in Sandton”.
“He [Sibiya] bought them food and plied them with liquor at The Grand and continued doing so at the Garden Court Hotel. When the complainant had passed out, the accused raped her and on his way out of the hotel room he boasted to the complainant’s friends that she was very nice and still a virgin,” the document reads.
Advocate Inez Bezuidenhout, legal analyst and a lecturer in the law faculty at the University of the Free State, said Sibiya faced a lengthy prison sentence if convicted of rape.
This just deepens the crises currently faced by police. I do not think ever in the history of this country, have we ever had a situation where so many senior police officials at the same time are accused of so many criminal offences and be either on suspension or criminally prosecuted. Some of them are dismissed already.— Policing expert Johan Burger
“The Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 section 51(1) prescribes life in imprisonment for any offences resulting under part 1 of schedule 2, and that includes rape where a victim is under 18 or even above 18 where the accused has been convicted by the trial court for two or more offences of rape. The court can deviate based on substantial and compelling circumstances,” she said.
On the charge of sexual grooming, the state’s case is that in July, Sibiya communicated through WhatsApp with the 16-year-old and during communication with her, he allegedly “persuaded, seduced, induced, enticed or coerced” the minor to provide him material constituting child pornography via WhatsApp to him.
Police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said the investigators had “overwhelming evidence” before bringing the matter to court.
“Until the arrest, the CRT [task team] led the investigations until they ensured they had enough overwhelming evidence to bring the case before court,” Mathe said.
She said KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi met the families and assured them the matters were treated with confidentiality.
“The sensitivity of the case and the person we are dealing with warranted that particular individual [victim] to approach the CRT team to say, ‘I have this information’. They then conducted a type of an undercover operation, obviously looking at protecting the integrity of the investigation and the minor and 18-year-old,” she said.
Policing expert Johan Burger said the Sibiya’s arrest added to the crises plaguing the South African Police Service.
“This just deepens the crises currently faced by police. I do not think ever in the history of this country, have we ever had a situation where so many senior police officials at the same time are accused of so many criminal offences and be either on suspension or criminally prosecuted. Some of them are dismissed already,” he said.
Burger said Sibiya should remain on suspension and cannot be allowed back at work even if released on bail because the charges he faces “are too serious”.