General Sibiri

Lieutenant General Sibiri explains that taxi violence falls under the jurisdiction of General Motsepe, not him, indicating he sometimes is tasked with duties outside his jurisdiction.

“there is a component dealing with taxi violence, which I indicated that it falls under General Motsepe”

Lieutenant General Sibiri attended meetings with Santago and the National Taxi Association concerning conflicts and was tasked to get information about the taxi industry including associations and chairpersons in various regions.

“I attended meetings with Santago and the National Taxi Association where there was conflict ... The Minister wanted to know about the bucket system ... They want to know about short background of the taxi industry ... How many associations are there? How many Chairpersons in regions ...”

Lieutenant General Sibiri was tasked by the DNC General Sibiya and the Minister to obtain and follow up information about the structure and persons involved in the taxi industry.

“I had a tasking from the DNC General Sibiya, that you got a tasking from the Minister ... The Minister wanted to know about the bucket system ... I phoned the president of Santago ... I asked Nkosi to say do you know the Chairperson?”

Lieutenant General Sibiri knew Joe Ferrari was the last remaining person in the taxi world and that Mswazi had already passed away.

“Joe is not part of the group of five ... Mswazi was already passed when I sent this ... Yes, I knew.”

Lieutenant General Sibiri was not aware that Mr Matlala became one of the group of five replacing Mswazi as of October 2024 and only heard of such through investigations revealed by the General, indicating he did not know at the time of the events in December 2024.

“I do not know ... I heard what the investigation reveals ... I do not know ... You referred to Mr Matlala as providing security for Mswazi, but you do not know what General Dumisani-Kumalo says that Matlala became one of the group of five ... October 2024 ... December 2024.”

Lieutenant General Sibiri was aware of suspects charged with the attempted murder of Tebogo Thobejane and their connection to the Arm and Swart contract killer murders but did not know that the same suspects were a group of five or linked to other murders at the time he spoke to investigators in May 2024.

“The attempted murder, I know ... Those who were arrested on the Arm and Swart ... They are linked ... Yes ... You know about the suspects ... charged on the Thobejane one ... You did not have any knowledge of connection of those contract killers ... in May 2024 ... I knew the connection of what? ... No ... I did not know ... No, I did not know.”

Lieutenant General Sibiri conveyed to investigators that the firearms found on alleged hitmen of Arm and Swart were linked to multiple murders, but he did not know their association with Mr Matlala's loan in September 2024.

“those firearms are going to link with more murders ... I conveyed that to the investigators ... There was indeed a link ... It was one of the links is to the person you took a loan from, Mr Matlala, in September 2024 ... I did not know if that would happen ...”

Lieutenant General Sibiri had a telephonic interaction with Mr Motsumi who called him about extortion issues in Reiger Park and Tanzania and referred him to Brigadier Kgorane, Provincial Head of Northwest.

“He phoned me and said he was referred to me that I am dealing with extortions ... problems in Reiger Park ... I think it was in Tanzania ... I referred him to Brigadier Kgorane, the Provincial Head of Northwest ...”

Lieutenant General Sibiri explained the complaints involving Mr Motsumi pertained to construction in Reiger Park and mining in Brits, but he does not know if Mr Motsumi has any relationship with the late Mr Mswazi or Mr Molefe or other members of the group of five.

“The complaint in Reiger Park was construction ... The complaint in Brits was mining ... I do not have knowledge ... I do not know if Mr Motsumi had any relationship with Mr Mswazi ... or Mr Molefe or other members of the group of five.”

Lieutenant General Sibiri's communication with Mr Motsumi was always regarding complaints and he referred Mr Motsumi to relevant officials like Brigadier Kgorane for assistance.

“My communication with Mr Motsumi, it was always about complaints ... I would always refer him to the relevant people working with him ... I referred him to Brigadier Kgorane to assist because he is the provincial head of organised crime.”

Lieutenant General Sibiri states Mr Motsumi called him first and he then called back to give feedback about a person who would phone him.

“He called me and I called him back to give him feedback that certain person will phone him.”

Lt-Gen Sibi explained that a Louis Vuitton sandal purchase was actually an exchange for a wallet that was originally a gift from a friend, with the difference paid by him, linked to his birthday party.

“I was buying sandals, and there are no sandals worth that amount in Louis Vuitton ... it was my birthday party ... I took the wallet to exchange it for the sandals, and I paid the difference of the 3300.”

Lt-Gen Sibi stated he planned to use money borrowed on loan to build something and intended to repay it in December 2023.

“I decided I wanted to use money to build something, I thought I must not use the money. The money which will be loaned to me, I will use it, and then I will pay it in December.”

Lt-Gen Sibiri stated that the sharing of social media messages and articles among SAPS members about departmental conflicts is tarnishing the image of SAPS.

“this thing is turning ugly and dragging through the integrity of SAPS into disrepute”

Lt-Gen Sibiri acknowledged that there are groupings or divisions among officers within the SAPS, but that not all information shared about them is true.

“I know there were groupings of officers in the , within the SAPS, then he, I said yes, I know that there were those. So not necessarily whatever is written there, it might be true or not true.”

Lt-Gen Sibiri stated that Sergeant Nkosi shares information received from senior officers and that this helped him stay informed without involving himself in conflicts.

“some of the information which he will share to me, I believe he got them from most senior officers because he is close to a lot of them. And sometimes I even asked him, are you an agent or who are you, because you can access anything from all these senior officers... So hence it was handy for me that I would know also what is happening... so that I know my lane, that I do not put myself in the mix of anything.”

Sergeant Nkosi sent Lt-Gen Sibiri multiple articles via chat messages concerning General Masemola, Lt-Gen Khumalo, Mr Matlala's tender, the Tembisa hospital scandal, the death of Babita Deokaran, the cancellation of Mr Matlala's tender, and an internal SAPS audit related to it.

“Sergeant Nkosi sends you an article related to... General Masemola and Lt-Gen Khumalo... Mr Matlala's tender... linked to the Tembisa hospital scandal and the death of Babita Deokaran... media enquiry related to the tender and cancellation of the tender, as well as an internal audit conducted by SAPS”

General Sibiri acknowledged seeing an infographic showing multiple cases between 2000 and 2024 where Mr Matlala was a suspect or person of interest, including cases of murder and attempted murder, but did not perform any check on Mr Matlala between 2019 and 2025.

“You will also recall that in 2021/2022, this is not in the infographic. This is what was in the public domain, was he was implicated in that Tembisa scandal ... Perhaps maybe I must confirm with the General that he has had regard to it. General, have you had regard to that infographic? Yes. And what the infographic shows is that Mr Matlala has been either a person of interest or a suspect in a number of cases from the year 2000...You did not do any of those searches? No.”

General Sibiri admitted he did not profile Mr Matlala despite public knowledge of his criminal record in various cases and the Tembisa scandal from 2021-2024, explaining that profiling all suspects was impractical due to the high volume of cases and arrests in Gauteng.

“I have already testified, Commissioners, that at that time I did not have any reason to go and profile him...If I did profile, I could have seen...I did not profile the guy...May be that is one of my mistakes if I did not profile when I see this thing in the newspaper and so forth...”

Advocate Pooe challenged General Sibiri's initial testimony of not being aware of any investigations against Mr Matlala between 2000 and 2024 by showing him the infographic revealing many such investigations.

“Remember, I took you back to your testimony, which was, I was not aware that there were any investigations. I am showing you that there were plenty of investigations between 2000 and 2024.”

General Sibiri confirmed awareness of the Tembisa hospital tender fraud scandal and the death of Ms Babita Deokaran reported by the news at the time.

“You must have been aware of that at the time the news broke about both matters, both matters but which were, of course, related. Correct? Yes, I have already also, Commissioner, you are correct.”

Advocates argue that General Sibiri's question about the amount paid in relation to the contract contradicts his stated position of inability to assist, implying he was involved in the transactional follow-up and not merely curious.

“you are not just curious, you want to give Mr Matlala a response ... you forwarded this to Sergeant Nkosi and Sergeant Nkosi gives you feedback ... it is not a question of curiosity”

General Sibiri denies sending anything to Sergeant Nkosi, stating that Sergeant Nkosi sent information to someone else and sent the screenshots to him without prompting.

“I never sent anything to Nkosi. Nkosi is sent these things to me ... He is sending and responding to himself at the same time”

General Sibiri doubts Sergeant Nkosi's ability to access finance printouts and documents, implying that Matlala is the possible source of the screenshots and information about payments since Nkosi does not have finance system access.

“I do not believe Nkosi can access these printouts. I thought maybe he got it from Matlala ... because I do not see any way Nkosi can access the finance document or have access to that one because it is not even at our finance”

Advocate Khumalo criticizes General Sibiri for allowing Sergeant Nkosi to access and share finance-related payment documents, saying that Nkosi should have been reprimanded for handling finance documents improperly and sharing them with Matlala.

“You should have reprimanded him. You should have said to him, Nkosi, you do not work in finance ... what are you doing with these documents and why are you sharing them”

Advocate Baloyi points out a strong correlation between calls from Matlala asking for help with payment and Sergeant Nkosi sending screenshots about payment status to General Sibiri, suggesting this pattern indicates coordination and that Sibiri's claim of surprise is unsatisfactory.

“there is this great coincidence ... that he sends them to you the day after you spoke to Mr Matlala ... that Mr Matlala calls and says help me ... Sergeant Nkosi sends you screenshots ... it is more than an unexplainable coincidence ... you are not giving a satisfactory explanation for this sequence of events”