Law enforcement and regulatory agencies launched a sweeping clampdown on alleged corruption networks on Thursday, targeting suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya and businessperson Hangwani Maumela.
Police converged on Sibiya’s Joburg home, seizing some of his personal gadgets, including a laptop and three cellphones.
The raid prompted him to tell reporters he expects to be arrested, as testimony in a parliamentary and Madlanga inquiry from KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi place him at the centre of alleged interference that neutralised the political killings task team.
“If they are coming to arrest me, let them not come at 3 o’clock in the early hours of the morning so that someone can shoot and kill me and say he was reaching out for a gun, so we took him down. What I am asking is to let it be done in a fair way,” he said, adding that he had been under surveillance from the early hours of the morning.
“I was under the impression that it was going to happen. I’m expecting it any time. General Mkhwanazi said yesterday that it’s imminent — it’s been imminent since last year — so I’m still waiting. They came to conduct a search and seizure. They normally look for the gadgets and the cellphones of everybody who’s in the yard,” he said.
The Sibiya raid coincided with a major asset forfeiture operation led by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which seized a collection of Lamborghinis, designer art and high-end assets belonging to Maumela as part of an R820m corruption crackdown linked to Tembisa Hospital contracts.
The SIU names the Maumela syndicate as the largest beneficiary, securing about R816m in tenders and linked to dozens of front companies.
Luxury properties in Hartbeespoort, Sandton, Zimbali and Cape Town; high-end vehicles, including Lamborghinis and a Bentley Continental; and even leisure assets, such as a boat, have been traced to that network and frozen by the SIU’s investigators.
“The SIU confirms an operation took place at a Sandhurst home linked to our Tembisa Hospital investigation. This operation is part of implementing the SIU’s investigation outcomes and consequence management. We will communicate further once the legal processes have been finalised,” the SIU’s Ngwako Motsieng said.
Dual operations
The dual operations — one targeting senior police leadership, the other the private sector’s criminal enablers — capped a week of escalating fallout from Mkhwanazi’s testimony at the Madlanga Commission and the parliamentary ad hoc committee.
They also test SA's determination to translate forensic audits, whistleblower evidence and SIU findings into recoveries and prosecutions that protect public finances and restore public confidence in the governance of the state.
In his testimony, Mkhwanazi alleged that rogue units within SAPS had acted under political instruction.
“The criminal justice system has been subject to a continuous threat to a point where it is at real risk of collapse if nothing is done,” Mkhwanazi said.
Mkhwanazi said that Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala and Katiso Molefe had already been arrested, adding that investigators know the identities of others involved in what he described as a “big syndicate”, but he would not name them publicly.
He has previously linked the pair to suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu.
Shortly after the raids, Mchunu’s chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, held his own press conference where he said he feared for his life after a raid of his home on Wednesday night by armed policemen. He claimed he was assaulted and accused of concealing evidence linked to a parallel corruption inquiry.
“The police visited my flat, but I was not available. They knocked and banged on the door. When my brother opened it, they thought it was me. They called my brother ‘Cedric’. They entered the flat — they were plus or minus 15 to 20, wearing camouflage with balaclavas covering their faces and carrying rifles.
“They demanded to search the flat without showing any warrant. When my brother asked them to show a warrant, they started to assault him with firearm parts,” he said.
“When my brother asked what was going on, why they wanted me, and why they were assaulting him, they said, ‘We [have been] sent by the national commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, to come and look for the chief of staff.’”
Also on Thursday, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (Psira) suspended eight staff members and launched a forensic review of all business and individual registrations approved over the past five years, after uncovering “serious irregularities” in its vetting systems.
Psira has also initiated a legal review of the registrations of Cat Protection and Security (Pty) Ltd and its director, Matlala.
“[There will also be] strengthening of the whistleblower and anti-fraud framework, encouraging internal and external reporting of corruption, fraud and irregularities and review of the Code of Conduct for Staff Members, aligning disciplinary consequences to acts of omission, negligence, or collusion in breach of the Psira Act.”
Matlala is currently in custody, facing charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and money laundering.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.