Stuart Scharnick: from construction businessman to key figure in Sibiya saga

Stuart Scharnick, a businessman who has been described as a close associate of suspended deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya, was arrested at the Madlanga Commission on Inquiry in Pretoria on Thursday.

His arrest followed a complaint of harassment by Sowetan journalist Herman Moloi during the commission’s sitting.

Scharnick came into the public spotlight in November last year, when head of crime intelligence Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo told the commission that he was Sibiya’s personal protector, despite not being employed by the South African Police Service (SAPS). Scharnick has denied the allegation.

Scharnick is from Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal and has been involved in the construction business since 2005.

His links to Sibiya came under scrutiny after Khumalo testified about their relationship and Scharnick’s alleged involvement in providing protection to the senior police officer.

Khumalo also told the commission that Sibiya frequently used a vehicle owned by Scharnick. Scharnick owns a Toyota double-cab bakkie that Sibiya was seen driving on the day police raided his home during a search-and-seizure operation last year.

Khumalo further testified that Scharnick had 34 cases recorded against him. According to Khumalo, Scharnick had been convicted in 18 cases, 11 had been withdrawn and he had been found not guilty in five.

Khumalo also showed the commission a photograph of Scharnick in parliament during Sibiya’s appearance before the ad hoc committee.

“There are lots of questions. If you commit so many thefts and hijackings within the space of two years and you are found guilty, how many years and when are you serving your sentences? Because everything is like in a very short space of time. That is part of the investigation that is still ongoing,” Khumalo told the commission.

In an interview with eNCA on November 4, Scharnick disputed Khumalo’s account of his criminal record.

He said the convictions related to incidents that occurred in 2010 and 2011, and disputed the suggestion that he had been convicted in 18 separate cases.

“It is not 18 separate cases, it is 18 counts in one case,” he said.

Scharnick said he received a five-year suspended sentence and a fine, adding that the suspended sentence had since lapsed.

He said the cases that were withdrawn formed part of an agreement reached with the state and that he had no pending cases.

Explaining the conviction, Scharnick said he and others had purchased vehicles without properly checking their origins. He said some of the vehicles had subsequently been found to have been hijacked.

According to Scharnick, several police officers were also charged after issuing police clearances for vehicles before he bought and sold them.

Scharnick said he met Sibiya around 2022 in connection with unsolved murder cases in Richards Bay that he had taken to the national police office.

However, he said he had lent Sibiya a bulletproof vehicle for between R60,000 and R70,000 a month after the SAPS withdrew his protection following his suspension.

Scharnick also explained his presence in parliament during Sibiya’s appearance before the ad hoc committee.

He said his accreditation tag identified him as part of the “legal team”.

“There is substantial evidence which I have given to Gen Sibiya pertaining to the operations of the Political Killings Task Team and I was assisting (Sibiya’s) legal team where he was giving evidence,” he said.

Scharnick denied ever being a member of the security industry or being involved in security work with Sibiya.

Two weeks after Scharnick’s eNCA interview, acting deputy commissioner for crime intelligence in KwaZulu-Natal Maj-Gen Anthony Gopaul told reporters that Durban police had uncovered evidence that an employee at the local criminal record centre had expunged some of Scharnick’s criminal history.

Gopaul said this had been done on January 16 2025, shortly before 5pm.

“The back end of the systems has brought us the evidence to show us what took place at the front end of the system,” Gopaul said.

He said the employee would face disciplinary and legal action, though it was not yet clear whether the alteration had been intentional or resulted from a misunderstanding.

“We are preparing two dossiers where we highlight some of our findings. I have hinted to you that in the docket we see very clear actors in an organised crime syndicate,” Gopaul said.

According to Gopaul, inspections of the dockets showed that 10 cases involved vehicle theft, while eight involved carjackings.

“He (Scharnick) talks about one count where he was sentenced to five years, suspended, which has since lapsed after paying a fine,” Gopaul said.

Gopaul further questioned why case dockets involving Scharnick had been consolidated before he received a suspended sentence for an offence committed in the province.

“What comes out is that the matter became a plea deal in which he received a slap on the wrist,” Gopaul said.

He added that besides vehicle theft and carjacking, other cases linked to Scharnick included assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, pointing a firearm, and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

Scharnick’s arrest at the Madlanga commission now puts the businessman, whose links to Sibiya have already been under scrutiny, back in the spotlight.