South Africa’s suspended Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, has resigned from the South African Police Service (SAPS), with the force confirming that his departure will be recorded as a dishonourable discharge.
Sibiya’s lawyers submitted his resignation letter on Monday, October 12, 2026, just as a disciplinary hearing against him was set to begin.
Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that because Sibiya had an ongoing disciplinary case against him at the time of his resignation, his exit from the service would be treated as a dishonourable discharge rather than an ordinary resignation.
“As the former senior officer had an ongoing disciplinary case against him at the time of his resignation, his departure from the service is therefore regarded as a dishonourable discharge,” Mathe said.
Sibiya remains in custody, facing five criminal charges before the Randburg Magistrate’s Court, including rape, human trafficking and the sexual grooming of a child.
Prosecutors allege that Sibiya sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman in a hotel room after she became unconscious. Sibiya has acknowledged having had sexual relations with the woman but maintains that the encounter was consensual and denies the rape charge.
He faces a separate charge relating to the alleged grooming of a minor, as well as a trafficking charge connected to allegations that several people were transported for purposes of sexual exploitation.
He had not pleaded to the charges at his first court appearance. His bail application, which began earlier this week, was continuing at the time of his resignation, with a further court appearance expected.
Sibiya’s exit brings to an end a once-prominent law enforcement career. He rose through the ranks to become a senior investigator within South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation before later heading the City of Johannesburg’s Anti-Corruption Unit and eventually being appointed Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection within SAPS.
He was first suspended in September 2025, after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused him of interfering with investigations into politically motivated killings in the province, allegations Sibiya rejected as “baseless lies” at the time.
Roughly two months before his resignation, President Cyril Ramaphosa had approved disciplinary and potential criminal investigations against Sibiya and several other officials in connection with those allegations.
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