Deputy Police Commissioner Sibiya Gives Masemola Friday Deadline or Threatens Court Action

South Africa’s troubled police leadership faces fresh turmoil as Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has drawn a legal line in the sand. In a letter sent late Thursday, Sibiya’s attorneys gave Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola until 10:00 on Friday to reinstate him or face urgent court action.

Lawyers call suspension “unlawful”

According to the letter from Inan Levitt Attorneys, Masemola has bungled the handling of Sibiya’s suspension by issuing a new notice while the first one is still in dispute.

The document, handed to Sibiya on 20 August at 20:30, called on him to explain why he should not be suspended or transferred. But his lawyers argue that the notice makes no sense because Sibiya is already suspended.

“This is exactly the kind of abuse we warned the court about,” the attorneys wrote, calling Masemola’s move an attempt at procedural gymnastics to cover earlier mistakes. They warned it could amount to constructive contempt of court.

The legal battle so far

Sibiya has already taken his suspension fight to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, claiming that Masemola admitted to breaching proper procedures when placing him on suspension in the first place.

Now, Sibiya’s team wants more than just reinstatement. They are demanding that Masemola:

• Withdraw the new suspension notice,

• Drop his opposition to the High Court case,

• Pay Sibiya’s legal costs, and

• Consent to the relief Sibiya is asking for.

If Masemola refuses, his lawyers say they will pursue not only an interdict but also personal and punitive cost orders against him.

Why this matters

The standoff deepens perceptions of instability at the top of the South African Police Service (SAPS), an institution already under fire for low public trust and internal divisions.

This is not Sibiya’s first brush with controversy. A seasoned police official once linked to the Hawks’ political battles, he has frequently clashed with authority figures in the SAPS hierarchy. His suspension dispute with Masemola now threatens to spill further into the courts, dragging SAPS’ internal struggles into the public spotlight.

With the Friday deadline looming, observers say the confrontation could set a precedent for how far senior police leadership can go in testing disciplinary rules and how much pushback suspended officers can mount.

At its core, the battle is less about one man’s suspension than about the credibility of the country’s policing leadership. As South Africa grapples with violent crime and corruption, the sight of its top brass locked in a courtroom showdown is likely to fuel public frustration with SAPS.

{Source: IOL}

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