Court told ‘how Sibiya obtained explicit video’ of 16-year-old girl

The Randburg magistrate’s court on Thursday heard details of how suspended deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya allegedly secretly communicated with a 16-year-old girl and obtained explicit pictures from her cellphone before asking her to send him sexual videos.

The allegations were contained in an affidavit by Det-Sgt Nokukhanya Ndlovu, who is attached to the Commission Recommendations Task Team. The affidavit was read into the record during Sibiya’s bail application.

Ndlovu said the affidavit was based on witness interviews, evidence collected during the investigation and expert reports.

Sibiya, 59, faces charges including rape, trafficking in persons and the sexual grooming of a minor. He has denied the allegations against him and previously told the court the charges were “trumped up”.

According to the investigating officer, allegations involving the 16-year-old, identified in court as ZM, came to light after she told her father about her alleged communications with Sibiya.

The court heard that the girl’s father worked as Sibiya’s bodyguard and had asked Sibiya on July 18 to collect his daughter because he was unable to do so himself.

The father allegedly gave Sibiya ZM’s cellphone number to facilitate the collection.

The state alleges that two days later, on July 20, Sibiya began communicating privately with the teenager on WhatsApp without her father’s knowledge.

According to the affidavit, the conversations became “explicitly sexual in nature”, with Sibiya asking the teenager whether she was sexually active, and requesting sexual videos from her.

The court heard that Sibiya allegedly called ZM on WhatsApp for about 51 minutes on July 20. During the conversation, he allegedly told her not to date anyone and to keep their communications secret.

The investigating officer further alleged that during the call, Sibiya sent the teenager more than 10 explicit photographs of herself which had previously been stored on her cellphone.

According to the affidavit, ZM had never sent the pictures to anyone and was shocked and frightened that Sibiya had obtained them.

“She was surprised and terrified as to how he managed to access them, and when she asked him how he managed to access them, the applicant never responded to her,” Ndlovu told the court.

The investigating officer said ZM became uncomfortable and stopped communicating with Sibiya for a period.

The affidavit detailed further alleged communications between Sibiya and the teenager several days later.

The court heard that shortly before midnight on July 23, Sibiya sent ZM a message after noticing she was awake. She allegedly replied that she was completing schoolwork.

Shortly after midnight, Sibiya allegedly reminded her that she had “promised something”, to which she responded that she remembered and would keep her promise.

The state claims the teenager subsequently sent Sibiya a sexually explicit video of herself lasting four minutes and 55 seconds.

This is hot. Hey, I keep on checking it

The affidavit detailed Sibiya’s alleged responses to the video, including: “OK, I like it,” followed later by: “It’s amazing.”

According to the investigating officer, Sibiya later referred to the video again and allegedly told the teenager he had repeatedly watched it.

“This is hot. Hey, I keep on checking it,” he allegedly wrote.

The state alleges he subsequently told ZM: “I need more,” before asking: “Are you deleting the messages?”

According to the affidavit, ZM responded later that afternoon: “I have not but I will.”

The WhatsApp exchanges are part of the state’s evidence in opposing Sibiya’s release on bail.

Sibiya has previously provided a different account of how explicit material involving the teenager came into his possession.

In his version presented during his bail application, Sibiya claimed the girl’s father initially sent him an explicit video of his daughter after discovering it. Sibiya said the father also told him his daughter had a “crush” on him.

Sibiya claimed he later contacted the teenager about the video and sent it to her after she asked to see what her father had obtained. He further claimed she subsequently sent him other material and asked him to investigate how it had been obtained.