Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, the Deputy National Police Commissioner, has disclosed that Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, and Lieutenant-General Fannie Masemola, the Provincial Commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal, are the subjects of an investigation into a number of serious criminal charges. Sibiya makes the revelations in his urgent application to return to work after being compelled to stay home.

He wants to stop his bosses from starting a process that is similar to the judicial commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference, and corruption in the criminal justice system, which was set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa and is headed by Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, who is retiring. Mosikili is the deputy national commissioner in charge of policing, and Sibiya is in charge of finding crimes. Sibiya has hauled the SA Police Service (SAPS), Masemola, acting police minister Gwede Mantashe and Ramaphosa to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria.

Sibiya stated in papers filed on Friday that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) and the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) are investigating Masemola, Mkhwanazi, and Mosikili for bribery, dishonesty, illegal rendition, torture, and obstructing justice. He claimed that Masemola's inconsistent decision-making undermined the approaching Justice Madlanga-led commission. A letter that Sibiya's lawyers, Ian Levitt Attorneys, sent to Masemola on July 17 and is attached to his application contains the allegations.

Sibiya claims that the group of high-ranking police crime intelligence officers, which includes its boss, Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, and chief financial officer, Major-General Philani Lushaba, who were arrested and charged with serious fraud and corruption allegations were not told to stay at home, were suspended, or were the subject of an investigation. Sibiya has asked the court to either review and set aside Masemola's decision to tell him to "stay at home, pending an investigation," restore the status quo ex ante (before the event), or both. Sibiya also wants Masemola to be prevented from initiating parallel proceedings and actions against the applicant, such as suspending, investigating, or disciplining him, among other things.

He is requesting that the interdict be granted pending the conclusion of the commission that Ramaphosa announced earlier this month to investigate Mkhwanazi's allegations and other matters that are part of its mandate and terms of reference. Alternately, Sibiya wants an order that says his stay at home is suspended and can't be taken or done until the commission's results are known. He stated that the national commissioner's actions toward him are manifestly inconsistent, irrational, unlawful, and unfair, and based on unsubstantiated allegations.

He said that despite Mkhwanazi’s allegations against him and the resultant threats and danger they have exposed him to, Masemola has refused to grant him funding for legal representation and/or security. Sibiya also said that he has been threatened and that his life is in danger. Henry Mamothame, an IDAC spokesperson, stated that the directorate cannot comment on Sibiya's statements and that he should be asked why he made them. A risk assessment by acting national head of crime intelligence Major-General Solomon Makgato on July 22 has concluded that the threats against his life are high and recommended to Masemola that he be afforded static and transit protection for a period of three months.

Sibiya claimed that Masemola has not addressed safety concerns since being denied a driver and a security guard, leaving him unable to defend himself and his family on his own during a volatile time. "It is no embellishment to say, that assumes I am not killed in the interim, without, for example, a protector consequent upon my employment," he told the court. Sibiya has written to Mkhwanazi, requesting that he retract what he called defamatory statements made against him. In the letter, Sibiya also states that he reserves the right to pursue any and all legal options against Mkhwanazi, which led to his suspension. He also maintains that the allegations are false.

It should be noted that the president has established a commission to investigate allegations involving police services (SAPS and municipal police services) and other law enforcement agencies, according to IPID spokesperson Lizzy Suping. She stated, "IPID’s position is that we need to allow the commission to continue with its mandate, and as a result, we will not comment on media inquiries falling within the scope of the commission." Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, the spokesperson for the national police, and Colonel Robert Netshiunda, the spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal police, did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.