Senzo Mchunu and Sibiya Handed Over Wrong Phones To Investigators — Hawks Now Demand Originals

Hawks investigators walked out of a tense handover meeting last week holding devices they immediately suspected were not the ones originally seized — a development that has thrown one of South Africa’s most closely watched political probes into fresh turmoil. Senior officials from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation confirmed the phones submitted by former Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and National Police Commissioner Fannie Sibiya bore no resemblance to the models described in earlier forensic documentation. The discovery sent shockwaves through the unit tasked with untangling a web of alleged corruption at the country’s highest law enforcement levels.

Investigators now suspect both men deliberately provided substitute handsets in place of the originals subpoenaed during the ongoing inquiry into serious malfeasance within SAPS leadership. Sources close to the probe told journalists the replacement units contained none of the communications, metadata, or encrypted messages sought under the lawful directive. Mchunu, who served as cabinet minister overseeing national policing, and Sibiya, who commanded the entire force until his recent suspension, face mounting scrutiny over what prosecutors described as a coordinated effort to frustrate official processes.

Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Nomthandazo Mbatha confirmed the directorate received two mobile units from the implicated individuals but declined to verify specific model numbers while examinations remain active. “We are pursuing every available legal avenue to compel production of the authentic instruments,” Mbatha stated, adding that tampering with subpoenaed evidence constitutes a separate criminal offence carrying severe penalties under the Criminal Procedure Act.

The handover drama follows months of escalating tension after President Cyril Ramaphosa placed Sibiya on precautionary leave amid swirling allegations linking senior officers to organised syndicates. Mchunu resigned from cabinet weeks earlier under a cloud of controversy surrounding irregular procurement decisions and undisclosed relationships with individuals under investigation. Parliamentary oversight committees demanded written explanations from both men but received responses lawyers described as evasive and incomplete.

Outside the Hawks building in Pretoria, a retired detective who spent thirty years building digital-evidence cases against corrupt officials watched the situation unfold from a wooden bench, shaking his head slowly. “Those phones,” he murmured to nobody in particular, “hold everything.”

Neither Mchunu nor Sibiya’s legal representatives had issued a substantive rebuttal by publication deadline, leaving prosecutors to decide whether obstruction charges should accompany the original docket — and leaving a nervous nation wondering whether the truth buried inside two missing cellphones will ever surface.