A date contradiction has emerged in the State’s charge sheet against suspended police deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya, with prosecutors placing the same alleged trafficking episode two months apart in different sections of the document.
The discrepancy concerns allegations involving three complainants, identified in the charge sheet as BQ, NM and MC, and the events that allegedly unfolded at the Garden Court Hotel and The Grand in Sandton.
In its preamble, the State says: “On 16 July 2026 the accused trafficked and/or caused the following people to be trafficked, namely BQ, NM and MC.”
But the charge sheet narrative below that places the same outing on May 16.
“MC, NM and BQ had planned an outing for themselves and arranged for Mr M to help them book a hotel and transport them to various places,” it states.
It says the group also asked Mr M to use his hotel points to pay for their Garden Court accommodation. “On 16 May 2026, when Mr M came to fetch them from the Garden Court hotel where they had booked in, he arrived in the company of the accused [Sibiya], who at that stage was unknown to them.”
The May date is repeated when prosecutors formulate Count 4, trafficking in persons.
The State alleges that “on or about 16 May 2026” at or near the Garden Court Hotel and The Grand, Sibiya unlawfully and intentionally “deliver[ed] and/or recruit[ed] and/or transport[ed]” BQ, NM and MC for alleged sexual exploitation through, among other things, abuse of vulnerability, deception or abuse of power.
Count 5, rape, also places the alleged offence on May 16.
It alleges that “upon or about the 16 May 2026” at the Garden Court Hotel in Sandton, Sibiya sexually penetrated MC without her consent while she was “passed out due to intoxication administered by the accused”.
The conflicting dates could become important as the case progresses because the State might have to align its chronology with hotel bookings, electronic communications, transport records and witness evidence.
Sunday World asked the National Prosecuting Authority whether the correct date was May 16 or July 16, whether the July reference was an error and whether prosecutors intended to amend the charge sheet.
NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the prosecuting authority could not comment on a matter that was before court.
Kganyago also declined to confirm whether the discrepancy had been brought to the attention of the magistrate during Sibiya’s first appearance on September 22.
Sibiya faces five charges: promoting the sexual grooming of a child, two counts of sexual grooming of a child, trafficking in persons and rape.
The July-August grooming allegations concern a separate 16-year-old complainant.
Sibiya has not yet pleaded to the charges.
- The State's charge sheet against suspended police deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya contains a date contradiction, placing the same alleged trafficking episode two months apart, on May 16 and July 16, 2026.
- The discrepancy involves allegations concerning three complainants identified as BQ, NM, and MC, with events allegedly occurring at the Garden Court Hotel and The Grand in Sandton.
- Counts 4 (trafficking in persons) and 5 (rape) in the charge sheet specifically state the alleged offences took place on or about May 16, 2026.
- The National Prosecuting Authority declined to comment on the date discrepancy or whether it was raised in court during Sibiya’s first appearance on September 22.
- Sibiya faces five charges, including promoting and sexual grooming of a child, trafficking in persons, and rape, and has not yet pleaded to any of the charges.
