‘It’s not only exclusively a strip club’: Sibiya disputes arrest location, claims he was at a restaurant
· Citizen
Suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has challenged the investigating officer’s account of the circumstances surrounding his arrest, disputing that he was apprehended inside a strip club.
This arose during the cross-examination of investigating officer Sergeant Nokukhanya Ndlovu at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 2 October 2026, as Sibiya’s bail hearing continued.
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Sibiya, who was arrested at The Grand Club in Rivonia, Sandton, on 21 September 2026, is facing three counts of sexual grooming, one count of human trafficking and one count of rape.
He is also facing an additional firearm-related charge following the alleged discovery of a gun in his vehicle.
Defence questions whether Sibiya was arrested inside strip club
During Friday’s proceedings, Sibiya’s legal team, consisting of Amanda Nel, Estelle Kilian and Rashaad Moosa, continued questioning Ndlovu about the investigation and the circumstances leading to their client’s arrest.
An exchange between Nel and the investigating officer centred on the nature of The Grand, with the defence arguing that the establishment operates as more than just a strip club.
Ndlovu: “I am the one who affected the arrest at the strip club with the grant, correct.”
Nel: “I love it how you repeat strip club, strip club, strip club.”
Ndlovu: “It is a strip club.”
Nel: “I put it to you – it’s not only exclusively a strip club. There’s a restaurant area, there’s a hotel area, and those areas are separate from the strip club. Are you going to dispute that?”
Ndlovu: “Your Worship, even when you Google the place, The Grand, it shows immediately the strip club.”
The exchange prompted Magistrate Hleziphi Mkhasibe to intervene, asking the investigating officer to clarify precisely where Sibiya had been arrested.
“I think you should make it clear; where was he arrested?” the presiding officer said.
Ndlovu maintained that the arrest took place inside the strip club, rather than in the establishment’s restaurant or hotel sections.
“He was not at the hotel side. He was not at the restaurant side. He was at the strip club.
“When you enter, and the strip club is right at the entrance, and that is where I effected the arrest.”
However, Nel disputed this version, putting it to Ndlovu that Sibiya, who was accused of planning to escape from custody, had been having a meal with three other men in the restaurant when the police apprehended him.
The investigating officer rejected the suggestion.
“No, that is not correct. [If there were] guys that were eating with [him], I would have mentioned them in my diary,” the investigating officer responded.
Sexual grooming allegations
Sibiya is accused of sexually grooming a 16-year-old girl, who is allegedly the daughter of his former bodyguard and driver.
The teenager’s father reportedly opened a criminal case after discovering communications between his daughter and the senior police official.
The alleged exchanges took place over WhatsApp between 20 July and 3 August 2026, during which Sibiya is accused of possessing and distributing explicit photographs and videos of the minor.
According to Ndlovu, the father initially gave Sibiya his daughter’s contact details because he believed the lieutenant-general would help arrange transportation for her.
However, Sibiya allegedly began communicating privately with the teenager without her father’s knowledge.
The senior police official has disputed the state’s version of how he came into possession of the explicit material.
In his account, the teenager’s father invited him to a braai in Kempton Park and asked him to collect his daughter from Centurion, where Sibiya resides.
He claimed that approximately a week later, the father visited his home and informed him that he had received a video of his daughter engaging in self-pleasure activities from an unknown source.
Sibiya further alleged that the father forwarded the video to him while expressing his disappointment.
He also claimed that the father told him that the alleged victim had a crush on him.
Rape charge
In a separate allegation, Sibiya is accused of raping an 18-year-old in an incident dating back to 16 May 2026.
According to the state, Sibiya allegedly took the complainant and two other girls to The Grand Club before purchasing food and alcohol for the group.
They later continued drinking at the Garden Court Hotel.
The complainant allegedly became intoxicated and subsequently lost consciousness, during which Sibiya is accused of raping her.
The lieutenant-general has denied the allegation, maintaining that the sexual encounter was consensual.
His version also places the 16-year-old’s father at the scene on the day in question, claiming he was the first to make contact with the 18-year-old and two others.
Defence disputes father’s employment as Sibiya’s bodyguard
Another point of contention during Friday’s cross-examination was the nature of the relationship between Sibiya and the teenager’s father.
Nel disputed the state’s description of the man as someone who had been employed by the lieutenant-general.
“[He] was never employed by the applicant as a bodyguard or a protector or a driver,” she said.
The defence lawyer questioned why Sibiya would have required additional protection services.
“Why would that be necessary if the applicant has official police protectors who are with him 24/7?” the lawyer asked.
Ndlovu explained that the Saps bodyguard was only on duty from Monday to Friday, leaving a gap over weekends.
“He [The father] was starting from Friday to Sunday,” she said.
The investigating officer added that Sibiya had approached the teenager’s father directly to provide protection services.
Nel later put it to Ndlovu that the teenager’s father was, in fact, the person responsible for the alleged human trafficking and sexual exploitation involving the three girls.
“He is the one who perpetrated these actions.”