Q&A with Gen Shadrack Sibiya on lack of arrests after Intercape charges

Intercape has filed more than 200 criminal cases for murder, attempted murder, intimidation and extortion. How many arrests have you made?

Let me put it this way. Let us dispute that there are 200 cases registered. It’s not correct. Because in some instances they open cases two times or three times, they duplicate. — where, for example, a driver rushes to the nearest place of safety to report a case and then ...

How many criminal cases have been filed according to your knowledge?

Far less than 200.

That’s the number the advocate for Intercape gave parliament this week, isn’t it?

Registered cases are 67 in the Eastern Cape, 14 in the Western Cape, 3 in Limpopo, 3 in Gauteng. KwaZulu-Natal, I don’t know.

So less than 100?

Yes. There are not many because these are the cases that are under investigation.

Were you aware of a sworn police affidavit that police were not investigating attacks on Intercape buses as organised crime because the company didn’t fill in the right forms?

No, that’s nonsense. There’s no such affidavit. We went through our records and I went to the people that were in court. And there’s no form for organised crime, no specific form that needs to be filled in for a particular crime. There’s nothing like that — that matters were not investigated because they did not fill in the right forms.

What do you say to the senior counsel who told parliament there was a sworn affidavit from the police to that effect?    

We went through our affidavits and it’s not there.

So how many arrests have you made?

Eleven.

Didn’t Intercape tell parliament no arrests have been made at all?

I just gave you the figures that were reported in parliament.

Why the discrepancy?

I think their advocate is reporting from old information she’s sitting with. She presented first, then we came from the police side to present.

The police portfolio committee chair says there have been, to quote him, zero arrests?

I don’t know where he’s coming from.

Did the police inform Intercape of the arrests when they were made?

I would take it that they’ve been in constant communication, they should know about the arrests.

Am I right in saying there’s a high court order instructing SAPS to keep Intercape informed of the progress of investigations?

Yes. And we are complying with the court order.

Why have police made only 11 arrests in three years, when they’ve been sitting on compelling evidence all that time?

You’re dealing with attacks at night and the driver is telling you he cannot identify the perpetrators. We’ve arrested people based on the registration of the car and lost the case because that wasn’t enough. The police have been doing their work.

Hasn’t Intercape won eight contempt of court cases against SAPS for its lack of action?

Our resources are stretched.

Are police colluding with the taxi mafia?

No, there’s no way the police can collude with criminals.

What would you call it when they sit in on a meeting where taxi bosses are fixing prices, routes, frequencies?

That matter is being investigated.