Sibiya grilled on purchase of 20 impalas by Matlala

Suspended deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya has claimed innocence in the purchase of impalas by Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala for him, shifting blame to a police officer working with him to have facilitated the deal without his knowledge.

“I categorically deny that I acquired or received any impalas from Matlala or any other person for that matter. ”No animal was ever delivered to my plot,” Sibiya said testifying at the Madlanga commission yesterday.

Witnesses before the commission investigating allegations of criminal infiltration in the justice cluster alleged Matlala purchased 20 impalas for Sibiya in March 2024.

The cellphone records of Witness F, a police officer working closely with Sibiya and whose name is being withheld for safety reasons, purport that he told Sibiya about the delivery of the impalas in March 2024 and asked for his address.

Sibiya then sent his address for the delivery of impalas after Witness F told him the request for the address came from Matlala.

However, Sibiya told the commission that when he realised the animals were impalas and not blesboks he rejected them, and they were never delivered to his plot in Midrand.

He told the commission his rejection was because he did not want to receive something from a South African Police Service (SAPS) service provider.

Matlala’s company, Medicare24, was a bidder in a R360m SAPS health services tender at the time.

Sibiya testified the animals he inherited when he bought the plot in 2017 were dying, and the last impala died in November 2023.

He said he was left with one blesbok and asked Witness F to look for a blesbok because the animal that was left was distressed.

Sibiya said he was not aware Witness F discussed the issue with Matlala to buy for his benefit.

“I never asked [Witness F] to approach Matlala. I categorically deny that I ever received such from Matlala,” Sibiya said.

Sibiya said Matlala had no reason to assist him in buying animals because he would not benefit from anything from him.

“I have nothing that I assisted Matlala with, and he had no reason to assist me in anything. I do not think he would invest in a dead horse. I would not be of any value to him because I was far from the supply chain.”

The evidence of acting deputy police commissioner Lt-Gen Hilda Senthumule’s WhatsApp chats with Sibiya, however, put a spanner in the works for him.

The WhatsApp messages show Sibiya sent pictures of two dead antelopes (impalas) on March 27 2024.

In his statement, Sibiya said his last impalas died in November 2023.

“You are not being truthful in your statement when you say the last [antelope] died in November 2023 and you never had them after that,” commissioner Sesi Baloyi put it to Sibiya.

He contended that the pictures of the dead animals sent to Senthumule belonged to him and were not purchased by Matlala. According to Sibiya, he purchased four impalas on his own through his gardener in 2024, but this was not included in his statement.

He said he did not have his gadgets and had little time to fact check the statement before it was sent to the commission.

“It is not that I am being untruthful.”

Commissioner Sandile Khumalo quizzed Sibiya on his statement, having stated he did not “acquire or receive any impalas from Matlala or any other person for that matter.”

“If you say you did not acquire impalas from anybody that means you did not acquire impalas,” Khumalo said.

Sibiya said the omission of his purchase of impalas was not deliberate but was due to dealing with a lot of probes against him, including a labour case at work.

He continues with his testimony.