Testifying before Parliament, suspended Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection Shadrack Sibiya was asked if he knew alleged corruption kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. He said: “I found them here in the police, these people. Especially Matlala. I found them working with the police very close to the generals and other police officials.”

Sibiya was suspended in September by the National Commissioner of Police amidst allegations that he had interfered in corruption investigations.

Matlala is an alleged tenderpreneur kingpin who has secured several state contracts. One of the most prominent was a R360 million health services tender with the South African Police Service (SAPS). He has additionally been linked to the R2 billion corruption scandal at Tembisa Hospital.

Referring to Matlala’s business dealings with the SAPS, Sibiyia said: “at the time the man was awarded a tender, up to the highest level, everyone saw it [referring to senior SAPS generals]. It was not under the mattress. They saw it and it ran. With everybody knowing.”

Responding to questions by the Democratic Alliance’s Glynnis Breytenbach, Sibiya admitted that the police's tender vetting procedures were inadequate and poorly applied. When Breytenbach pressed Sibiya on how such a tender could go ahead and whether there was political interference in the police, his answer was: “In general, I don’t know of any.”

When Breytenbach further questioned Sibiya on whether police leadership is capable of acting in the best interests of South Africans, his answer was in the affirmative but that there were: “people that come in and cause division in the police.”

Sibiya’s testimony appeared to corroborate much of that of General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi whose revelations sparked both the parliamentary inquiry and the Madlanga Commission. The testimony before both enquiries has been overwhelming that the police have been deeply infiltrated by criminal elements.