Sergeant Fannie Nkosi, an officer with the Gauteng Organised Crime Unit, testified to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that he was once asked to make peace between suspended Deputy Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya and KwaZulu-Natal SAPS Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Image: Kamogelo Moichela / IOL News
Gauteng Organised Crime Unit officer Sergeant Fannie Nkosi says suspended Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya once asked for his help in mending his strained relationship with KwaZulu-Natal police chief Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Nkosi testified at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday where his WhatsApp chats with businessman and taxi boss Steve Motsumi also showed he shared news articles and confidential police information, including articles about Mkhwanazi and Political Killings Task Team head Dumisani Khumalo.
One of the articles Nkosi shared reportedly highlighted allegations of problems within SAPS KwaZulu-Natal affecting Mkhwanazi and Khumalo, specifically claiming Mkhwanazi tried to influence witnesses in a disciplinary case against SAPS counter-intelligence head Major-General Feroz Khan to secure Khan's dismissal.
Nkosi also sent the same article to Sibiya, prompting the commission to ask if Sibiya was also a fan of Mkhwanazi.
That was after he said he and Motsumi were both fans of Mkhwanazi and would often share information about him if they thought it would concern him.
Nkosi claimed that Sibiya "likes" Mkhwanazi, saying Sibiya once summoned him to his office in 2024 and asked him to mediate a peace deal with Mkhwanazi because their relationship was strained.
During his testimony last month, Sibiya told the commission that factions exist within SAPS, but there was no hostility between him and Mkhwanazi.
"There was not really a conflict. I tried several times to make a relationship work... to build a relationship. I even sent Sergeant Nkosi to KZN to go, sit down with Mkhwanazi and say (to him) 'General wants to know why we are fighting," Sibiya said.
Mkhwanazi previously claimed that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu called for a meeting to broker peace between the two top cops. He also said there was no way to make peace between himself as a police officer and a criminal, referring to Sibiya.
Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC, the evidence leader, asked Nkosi if the two senior officers had mended fences by 2025. Nkosi replied: "According to me, they are getting along."
He said he was not sure about Sibiya's relationship with Fannie Masemola, but police gossip suggested it was "not good". Nkosi stated Sibiya discussed his issues only with Mkhwanazi, not Masemola.
Nkosi's testimony also revealed that he shared an article with Motsumi about the arrest of Khumalo in June last year at OR Tambo International Airport, alongside six high-ranking police officials.
According to Mkhwanazi's testimony, Khumalo's arrest was a calculated move to shut down investigations into powerful drug cartels and organised crime.
Nkosi said he knew Khumalo was one of the people arrested, and he also sent a picture of a Crime Intelligence officer in custody to Motsumi.
"I didn't send the picture because it is a member of intelligence. It was something that was breaking news," he said.
Chaskalson said: "You sent a picture of one person who is being sent to custody. What is the value of the picture?"
Nkosi said: "To be honest, Motsumi was not interested in that picture."
Nkosi stated that he discussed a news article about Khumalo's arrest with Mkhwanazi, who responded by sending a YouTube link to Tupac Shakur's song "Last Mother F*** Breathing".
Nkosi explained that he shared the Tupac lyrics screenshot with Motsumi because he had been playing Tupac songs while biking with Motsumi the previous weekend, and Motsumi had been annoyed. He sent the link to show him that even Mkhwanazi was into Tupac songs.
Chaskalson interjected, saying: "That's a great story, Sergeant, but I want to put it to you that it is not a true story."
But Chaskalson suggested he send it to Motsumi because he wanted him to know if Mkhwanazi would fight to the bitter end, as suggested by Tupac songs.
"What did Tupac say about Last Mother F*** breathing?" he asked Nkosi.
Nkosi responded: "He is saying I am the last man standing."
Chaskalson said: "I am going to fight until I am the last man standing. Is it not what Mkhwanazi is saying that Khumalo may be arrested, but I am going to fight until the bitter end?"
Nkosi said: "I don't want you to put words into his mouth, but that time he was cruising and sent me this thing (Tupac lyrics) and this is how I understood him."
Chaskalson earlier said: "What it seems to be is that for several months now, you have been sharing with Motsumi stories of factions in SAPS, General Khumalo, General Masemola, General Mkhwanazi. And on that day, the position of that grouping in the SAPS probably looks weakest because General (Khumalo) has just been arrested. You speak to Mkhwanazi, and his response is to come back to you with Tupac songs, essentially saying I am going to fight to the bitter end. And you were sending that to Mr Motsumi because Motsumi wanted to know if Mkhwanazi would fight to the bitter end."
Cape Times