By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Pretoria High Court dismissed Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya’s application to review and set aside the decision to place him on leave of absence.
Sibiya has dragged his boss, General Fannie Masemola, to court over a stay-at-home order he was slapped with in July.
Masemola told Sibiya to take special leave pending an investigation against him.
This was after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi held a press conference on 6 July and made a series of astounding allegations against individuals, including Sibiya and the then police minister, Senzo Mchunu.
Among Mkhwanazi’s allegations was that at the end of last year, Mchunu sent out a directive to freeze the filling of vacancies in the Crime Intelligence unit and to disband the Political Killings Task Team, which was created six years earlier.
Both Sibiya and Mchunu have denied the accusations of wrongdoing against them.
Sibiya had asked the court for an order declaring that Masemola’s decision to direct him to “stay at home, pending an investigation” unlawful and for it to be set aside.
Alternatively, Sibiya was seeking an order stating that his stay at home is suspended pending the outcome of the commission.
The case was heard by a full bench last week and dismissed with costs on Tuesday.
In its judgment, the court said Sibiya had not challenged any law or “state conduct” on constitutional grounds.
The court also said Sibiya had made “overbroad and unfounded allegations’ that Masemola was disregarding the judicial commission of inquiry led by former Constitutional Court (ConCourt) judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga, by launching what the deputy commissioner called a “parallel investigation”.
“Taking all the above factors into consideration, in the exercise of our discretion, we find no cogent reasons to depart from the general rule.
“ln the premises the following order is made: The application is dismissed with costs,” the judgment reads.
A commission of inquiry has been established to probe Mkhwanazi’s claims, including Sibiya’s role and the minister’s alleged interference.