Shadrack Sibiya’s son clarifies witness interference claims as recording played in court

Deputy National Police Commissioner for Crime Detection Shadrack Sibiya appears at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on 29 September 2026. Picture: Gallo Images/Fani Mahuntsi

The son of suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has told the Randburg Magistrate’s Court during bail proceedings that a family friend contacted a complainant in the case against the senior police officer without the knowledge or instruction of the family.

Ofentse Saul Magwenya, 26, made the disclosure in an affidavit read out in court on Thursday, 1 October 2026.

The contact was allegedly made by Bishop Lazarus Azwihangwi Maumela, who was allegedly with Sibiya when he was arrested at The Grand Club in Rivonia, Sandton, on 21 September.

According to Magwenya’s statement, Maumela later told him that he had contacted the complainant sometime between the evening of Sibiya’s arrest and midday the following day.

“Bishop Maumela informed me that he spoken to the complainant and that he had not obtained any information from that conversation.

“I am unable to recall the exact time at which he told me this. At that stage, I did not know the identity of the complainant,” the affidavit reads.

The 26-year-old told the court that the contact was not authorised by his father or any other member of the family amid allegations of witness interference.

“Bishop Maumela acted on his own accord.

“As a bishop who was offering spiritual support to our family, it was not made at the request of my father, myself or any other member of the family,” the 26-year-old added.

Sibiya is facing three counts of sexual grooming, one count of human trafficking and one count of rape.

He is also facing a firearm-related charge after a gun was allegedly found in his vehicle when he was arrested at The Grand Club.

The grooming allegations concern a 16-year-old girl and alleged WhatsApp interactions between July and August 2026.

The charge sheet alleges that Sibiya possessed and distributed explicit videos and photographs of the teenager.

The state alleges that the 16-year-old’s father, an associate of Sibiya, provided the senior police official with her contact details in July to arrange transportation.

Sibiya rejected the state’s version of how he came into possession of the material.

According to him, the teenager’s father had invited him to a braai in Kempton and asked him to collect his daughter from Centurion, where Sibiya resides.

The lieutenant-general claimed that a week after the braai, the father visited him at his home and told the senior police officer that he received a video of his daughter masturbating from an undisclosed source.

Sibiya further alleged that the father forwarded the “offending video” to him while expressing his disappointment.

Additionally, the father allegedly informed Sibiya that the 16-year-old had a crush on him.

The rape charge stems from an alleged incident in May 2026 involving an 18-year-old woman.

The charge sheet alleges that Sibiya took the woman and two other people to The Grand Club.

It is alleged that he bought food and alcohol for the group before continuing to do so at the Garden Court Hotel.

The woman allegedly became intoxicated and lost consciousness, after which Sibiya allegedly raped her.

Sibiya disputed the allegation, claiming that the sexual encounter was consensual.

According to the lieutenant-general, the 16-year-old’s father was with him at the hotel on the day in question.

The court was later played a recording of a telephone conversation between Maumela and the father of the 16-year-old sexual grooming complainant.

The recording was introduced after investigating officer Sergeant Nokukhanya Ndlovu took the witness stand to oppose Sibiya’s bail application.

In the recording, Maumela informs the man that Sibiya had been apprehended.

“General has been arrested,” Maumela is heard telling the father, who replied: “I see the news now”.

Maumela then told him that the 18-year-old complainant had informed the police that Sibiya was being arrested in connection with a rape allegation and that the father had allegedly been present on the day in question.

The father, however, responded that it had been a “long time” since he had spoken to Sibiya.

“Now, they are are involving me. Who said that?” the father remarked.

He subsequently asked Maumela for the identity of the complainant involved.

Maumela explained that he had contacted the father to establish whether he could remember the girls who had been at the hotel.

The pastor added that the purpose was to identify those who had been present so “we can sit down” and “talk” with the alleged victim.

Ndlovu informed the court that this was intended to persuade the 18-year-old woman to drop the charges.

Maumela has previously spoken publicly about his relationship with Sibiya.

The bishop, an alleged ANC affiliate who led the Faith Harvest Bible Church, told reporters last week that Sibiya was a “long-time friend” and a “child of God who grew up in church”.

Maumela also alleged that the criminal charges against Sibiya were linked to internal succession battles within the South African Police Service (Saps).

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