Sibiya reiterates he did not buy R20m 'spy machines' for City of Joburg

Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has reiterated that he did not procure spy equipment during his time at the City of Johannesburg. 

Sibiya served as the head of Group Forensic Investigation Services (GFIS) within the City of Johannesburg for six years from 2016. 

In 2022, political opponents and some city officials alleged that Sibiya and GFIS had acquired “spying machines”, claiming he bought a R20m device from an Israeli company capable of intercepting phone calls, emails and data from nearby laptops. 

Sibiya was later cleared when a probe by the State Security Agency (SSA) found that he had procured equipment used for detecting eavesdropping devices and sweeping rooms for bugs, not for gathering intelligence. 

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Sibiya reaffirmed his innocence before the Madlanga Commission on the matter on Wednesday. 

“I want the chair, the public and the City of Johannesburg to know that it was not spying equipment. It was equipment that should monitor what is happening, all the crimes that are committed in the City of Johannesburg.”