Sibiya invited Matlala, Shibiri to Thanksgiving ceremony: Witness F

Adv Matthew Chakalson is leading evidence at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria on February 4, 2026.

Witness F says suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya invited alleged criminal cartel kingpin Vusimuzi ‘Cat” Matlala and Organised Crime Head Richard Shibiri to a Thanksgiving ceremony.

Witness F is being grilled at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria about a meeting that Sibiya, Matlala and Shibiri had attended

Shibiri’s name has previously been mentioned at the Commission, with some witnesses alleging that he had attempted to influence the investigation into the April 2024 murder of engineer Armand Swart.

Evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chakalson was not satisfied with Witness F’s claim that the meeting was a Thanksgiving ceremony, but Witness F stuck to his testimony.

Chakalson asked: “And if it was a Thanksgiving ceremony, why would it be, why would you have specifically texted General Shibiri to say that Cat has arrived?”

Witness F replied: “General Shibiri is someone or a Commander that I usually communicate with more often. I think that it came from there to let him know, or I was asking him to know, I did not put a question mark that Cat has arrived there.”