By Johnathan Paoli
The bail application of suspended deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya is back in court after taking a dark turn when the state presented disturbing details of the sexual grooming and rape allegations he is facing.
Appearing in the Randburg Magistrate’s court on Thursday, investigating officer Sergeant Nokukhanya Ndlovu told the court that Sibiya allegedly engaged in sexually explicit communications with a 16-year-old girl, while also outlining the state’s case that he raped an 18-year-old woman after she allegedly lost consciousness.
“The communications were explicitly sexual in nature, ranging from asking her about being sexually active, sending her own naked pictures, which she had not shared with anyone, asking her to masturbate and share the videos with him,” Ndlovu said.
Sibiya, 59, faces three counts of sexual grooming, one count of human trafficking and one count of rape.
He faces a further firearm-related charge following the alleged discovery of a gun in his vehicle when he was arrested at The Grand Club in Sandton on 21 September.
The state has also implicated Sibiya in alleged human trafficking linked to the sexual exploitation of three people.
Ndlovu said the investigation into Sibiya began after the 16-year-old’s father, who had previously worked as Sibiya’s bodyguard, opened a criminal case.
The state alleges Sibiya communicated with the teenager through WhatsApp between 20 July and 3 August 2026, during which he allegedly possessed and distributed explicit photographs and videos of the minor.
According to Ndlovu, the girl’s father initially provided Sibiya with his daughter’s contact details because he believed the senior police officer could give her a lift to a braai because he wasn’t able to pick her up.
The state alleged Sibiya subsequently started communicating with the girl without her father’s knowledge.
Ndlovu said the teenager had saved Sibiya’s number as “Ntate Sibiya” after receiving it from her father.
The investigating officer alleged that Sibiya manipulated the teenager into expressing that she liked him during a WhatsApp exchange at about 5.16pm on 20 July.
Later that evening, they allegedly had a 51-minute WhatsApp call during which Sibiya discouraged the girl from dating other people.
“He informed her not to tell anyone about their communications and further asked her to send him videos of herself masturbating,” Ndlovu said.
The court also heard that Sibiya allegedly sent the teenager more than 10 explicit photographs which she had never knowingly shared with anyone.
“She had never sent these photos to anyone. Whosoever got hold of them did so illegally. She was surprised and terrified as to how he managed to access them,” Ndlovu said.
But Sibiya told the court that the teenager’s father had invited him to the braai in Kempton Park and asked him to collect his daughter from Centurion, where Sibiya lives.
According to Sibiya’s version, about a week later the father visited his home and told him that he had received a video of his daughter engaging in sexual activity from an unknown source.
Sibiya claimed the father then forwarded the “offending video” to him while expressing his disappointment, and told him that the teenager had a crush on him.
The court also heard the state’s case concerning an alleged rape on 16 May 2026.
Ndlovu said Sibiya took the 18-year-old complainant and two other women to The Grand Club before they continued drinking at the Garden Court Hotel.
The state alleges Sibiya bought food and alcohol for the group and that the complainant subsequently became intoxicated and lost consciousness.
He is accused of raping her while she was unconscious.
Sibiya denies the allegation and maintains that the sexual encounter was consensual.
Ndlovu said the two other women would testify about comments Sibiya allegedly made after emerging from the hotel room.
“Other girls will testify about the confession that the applicant made when he came out of the hotel room after almost 30 minutes, when he said ‘this girl was still a virgin’ and when he went on to say, ‘she is very nice’,” she said.
The complainant is expected to testify about the physical pain she experienced after regaining consciousness and blood spots she allegedly noticed afterwards.
Ndlovu also told the court that the complainant’s reluctance to open a case was linked to her realisation that the suspect was a senior police officer.
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