Suspended Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya’s testimony at the Madlanga Commission intensified as the spotlight fell on Cat Matlala, General Shibiri, Brown Mogotsi, and controversial blogger Musa Khawula.
Sibiya dropped explosive claims about the arrest warrants alleging pressure from political offices and even references to the “after 9” clubs.
The commissioner revisited screenshots of posts allegedly made by Blogger Musa Khawula containing serious allegations about Cat Matlala.
Evidence showed that General Shibiri messaged Musa saying, “Don’t run the story Chommie. He’s a good guy. He never bothers anyone and lives a private life.”
Commissioners suggested this looked like an attempt to shield Matlala.
Sibiya said he could not say whether anyone was protecting anyone. But the real tension erupted over an arrest warrant.
Evidence before the commission shows Sergeant Fannie Nkosi sent Cat Matlala a copy of Musa Khawula’s arrest warrant. Sibiya agreed under questioning that sharing a warrant with a private individual would be improper. However, he strongly denied instructing anyone to send it.
Nkosi’s version is clear, he says Sibiya told him to forward the warrant to Matlala because Matlala’s security company had insight into places Musa allegedly frequented on weekends.
Sibiya rejected this outright. He said he never gave such an instruction and insisted he would not involve a private security company in executing an arrest.
The commission then pressed him about the reasoning allegedly given, that Matlala and his security team knew the venues Musa visited. That’s when an unusual detail emerged.
When asked about the locations, Sibiya described them as “after 9 clubs” referring effectively late-night gay club venues.
Sibiya initially wrote the description down before confirming verbally that he was referring to after-9 establishments.
Another major issue was why Sibiya appeared consistently updated about Musa Khawula’s arrest.
Messages showed he was informed when Musa was detained in Sandton cells and when the arrest was confirmed.
Commissioners questioned why he was kept in the loop so closely when the matter was not directly under his command structure.
Sibiya’s response was that he works closely with certain operational teams and often stays informed on arrests, especially when warrants are involved.
He denied having any special or personal interest in Musa’s case.
As if this was not enough, Sibiya was further confronted with a series of messages suggesting arrangements were being made to transport impalas to his home.
“I’ve never had impalas delivered to my home,” Sibiya said repeatedly.
The commission heard that on March 21, 2024, Matlala forwarded a voice note to Nkosi. In the recording, a man asks for a pin drop “for where the impala must go.”
Nkosi immediately forwarded the voice note to Sibiya with the message: “Morning it’s from Cat.”
Sibiya acknowledged receiving the message and confirmed that the WhatsApp number used in the exchange belongs to him.
The Madlanga Commission will resume for the fifth time today and Sibiya is expected to wrap up his testimony.