Politics
Sibiya denies witness claims linking him to alleged drug theft plot – SABC News
Lieutenant‑Colonel Kwazikwakhe Sibiya of the Durban Hawks Serious Organised Crime Unit in KwaZulu‑Natal has denied previous witness testimony linking him to a scheme to steal a large consignment of the drugs.
Sibiya admits that he was part of the team assigned to the Isipingo depot in Durban on the 22nd of June 2021, where 541-kilogram cocaine was intercepted by both the Hawks and the Durban police.
He is testifying before the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria.
The drug consignment, valued at around R200 million, disappeared without a trace five months later at the Hawks Port Shepstone storage facility.
The Madlanga Commisison of Inquiry had previously heard that the theft was the work of an inside job by high-ranking KwaZulu‑Natal Hawks officials.
Sibiya says on the day of the break-in in November 2021, he was on a police training at the SAPS Paarl Academy in the Western Cape.
“Participation in a scheme to store exhibit in an unsafe storage to make them vulnerable to theft. I deny these serious allegations in the strongest possible terms. I was not part of any scheme, nor did I engage in any process designed to make the exhibits vulnerable to theft. My conduct was at all times bona fide, authentic. I was following the lawful instruction of senior. The decision which Major General Flynn retrospectively identified as created vulnerability were not my decision. These include the decision not to process the crime scene at the depot; the decision not to call the SAPS; the decision not to store the exhibits at the police station of jurisdiction, namely Isipingo and the decision to transport the exhibit to the DPCI premises in Koshiftin was the senior management decision.”
Sibiya is the seventh witness to appear before the Inquiry since Monday to respond to questions on the June 2021 drug bust and the November burglary.
Live stream:
He is currently a member of the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime unit. This is what transpired between him and Commissioner Sesi Baloyi.
Sibiya: “I was only promoted on the 1st of September, 2021.”
Commissioner Baloyi: “Okay.”
Sibiya: “So, June, I was not yet promoted.”
Commissioner Baloyi: “So, in June, you are still under that temporary transfer?”
Sibiya: “Yes.”
Commissioner Baloyi: “Is that what’s happening?”
Sibiya: “Yes.”