The police in KwaZulu-Natal have made shocking revelations that in January, one of its employees in the national office in Pretoria accessed its criminal records system and deleted the criminal records of Stuart James Scharnick, a self-confessed associate of General Shadrack Sibiya.
Major General Anthony Gopaul, the head of the detectives in KwaZulu-Natal, made the revelations during an impromptu press conference.
Gopaul stated that they discovered this while reviewing Scharnick’s 29 cases, after he denied having any convictions and expressed his intention to sue General Dumisani Khumalo, the head of crime intelligence, for damaging his reputation at the Madlanga commission.
Thankfully, the records were kept in the system’s back end. An inquiry is being conducted to ascertain whether the employee followed instructions or took independent action.
Investigation underway
When Gopaul was asked who was in charge of the criminal records, he implied that Sibiya could have been in charge of the criminal records centre.
Furthermore, Gopaul revealed that despite being a convicted criminal, Scharnick, who hails from Richards Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal, owns five guns that he obtained under the false pretense that they will be used for sporting purposes.
Other than the cases of hijacking and carjacking, Scharnick also previously faced charges of assault, possession of illegal firearms, and other serious charges.
- This is a developing story; it will be updated later
