Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya and Sergeant Fannie Nkosi have given conflicting testimony at the Madlanga commission, leaving it a case of one man’s word against the other’s.
During his testimony last month, Nkosi, then identified only as Witness F, said when tenderpreneur Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala went to meet Sibiya at the head office in 2024, Sibiya asked him to fetch the tenderpreneur from the entrance.
Nkosi said he took Matlala to Sibiya’s office.
There, Sibiya allegedly asked Nkosi to be his and Matlala’s middleman because of the top cop’s packed schedule.
However, Sibiya contradicted that version during his testimony last month.
“My office is structured. I have an administration, a messenger, a PA and a staff officer. When there is someone down there, they call; one of them will be the one to fetch Matlala, which was the case. He was fetched by one of the ladies in the office,” said Sibiya at the time.
ALSO READ: Sibiya denies Witness F and Matlala’s testimonies about impalas
“Immediately after the meeting, they went and took him out, but he went to a certain brigadier. I don’t agree with what Witness F said. Witness F is not an administrator, but an operational member; he does not sit in the office waiting to be called to go fetch someone. He’s mostly not even in the office.”
Sibiya further denied having asked Witness F to act as a middleman between him and Matlala. Although he admitted to having communicated with Matlala through Witness F, he said the communication was significantly minimal.
Nkosi says Sibiya’s testimony ‘false’
On Monday, Nkosi stood by his initial testimony, respectfully denying Sibiya’s testimony as either “false” or that “maybe he just forgot”.
He said Sibiya’s testimony that he never asked Nkosi to fetch Matlala from the Saps head office entrance or asked him to be the middleman was “false”.
“This is false. I have been to Sibiya’s office many times, more than I can count. It’s false that I did not deliver Matlala to his office.”
Nkosi said it was false testimony when Sibiya told the commission the sergeant offered to help look for impalas for the suspended top cop.
ALSO READ: Texts from Witness F’s phone appear to corroborate Matlala’s version
It was also false that Sibiya told Nkosi he did not want to receive anything from a Saps service provider.
“I was not arranging for Sibiya to get impalas. To my knowledge, Mr Matlala sent me the voice note. I sent it to General Sibiya; he sent me feedback, and I sent it back to Mr Matlala. But I did not take part in the said arrangement, as you are saying that I have arranged. General Sibiya sent me a location to give to Mr Matlala,” said Nkosi.
“It’s also false that Sibiya said he did not want anything from a service provider.”
During their conversation, Sibiya never said he did not want impalas, said Nkosi.
“I have no reason to lie about General Sibiya,” said Nkosi.
Ze Nxumalo
Businessman Ze Nxumalo’s name came up again at the commission, this time over the warrant of arrest for blogger Musa Khawula.
Khawula has shared controversial statements about ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, Matlala and Nxumalo – claims that landed him in jail.
Last month, Nkosi testified that Khawula’s arrest for the alleged Contravention of the Cybercrime Act and crimen injuria was not a simple matter.
On Monday, the commission reviewed Nxumalo and Nkosi’s WhatsApp messages.
Nkosi saved Nxumalo as Zenzile EFF, reluctantly telling the commission it was because “I once saw him wearing an EFF cap”.
Nxumalo referred to Nkosi as “007”, denying an assertion that the businessman may have called him that because he seemed to have regarded him as his secret agent.
Nxumalo communicated about several issues, including Khawula.
Nkosi testified that Nxumalo sent him the warrant of arrest for Khawula the same day it was issued by the court. The businessman allegedly went as far as buying tickets for Saps officers to attend the same show as Khawula to effect his arrest. The blogger did not attend the event.
Following the blogger’s arrest, Nxumalo allegedly sent Nkosi the blogger’s picture and arrest register in January 2025, though he admitted it was not legal for the businessman to possess such.
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