Suspended South African police general denies rape allegation, says sex with 18-year-old was consensual
Suspended Deputy National Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya has denied raping an 18-year-old woman at a Sandton hotel, with his lawyer telling court the encounter was consensual. The accusation, laid out in a charge sheet seen, has put one of South Africa’s top police officials back in the spotlight.
During his bail application at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday morning, attorney Estelle Kilian said the sex followed a visit to The Grand, a strip club in Sandton. The state, however, says Sibiya raped the young woman at a hotel on May 16, 2026, after she had been given alcohol and lost consciousness.
What the state alleges
According to the charge sheet, Sibiya took the woman and two others to The Grand and bought them food and liquor. The document says the drinking continued later at the Garden Court Hotel.
When the complainant passed out, the accused allegedly raped her. The charge sheet adds that, as he left the hotel room, he told the complainant’s friends she was “very nice” and still a virgin. Those allegations remain before the court.
The case is likely to draw close attention in South Africa, where policing scandals have often sharpened public distrust of law enforcement leaders. For a senior officer suspended from duty, the stakes are not only personal. They reach into a service already under scrutiny.
Separate grooming allegation
Sibiya also faces a second set of allegations involving a 16-year-old girl. The charge sheet says he groomed her through WhatsApp between July and August 2026.
It further alleges he sent the teenager nude photographs of herself, though available reports do not give the full details of that charge.
The court proceedings will continue to test the competing versions: a senior officer insisting the encounter was consensual, and prosecutors alleging rape after the complainant lost consciousness. For now, the case stands as another stark reminder of how quickly allegations against senior police figures can move from private spaces into public view.
