The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry will obtain a statement from socialite Serge Cabonge following a recording played in the bail hearing of former deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya, which contains claims about alleged police connections, money and a person linked to the commission.
Commission spokesperson Jeremy Michaels confirmed on Tuesday that the commission would engage with Cabonge as part of its investigation into matters falling within its terms of reference.
“The commission will engage with Mr Cabonge and obtain his statement as part of its broad investigation into matters falling within its terms of reference and his mention of the Commission in the recording,” Michaels said.
The recording, played at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court during Sibiya’s bail proceedings, captures a conversation between Cabonge and a man referred to in court as Mr M, the father of the 16-year-old girl whom Sibiya is accused of sexually grooming.
During the conversation, Cabonge discussed his relationship with businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and denied acting as a middleman between Matlala and Sibiya.
“I was not the middleman between Cat and Sibiya. I never collected money from Cat to Sibiya, they did that via Sergeant Fannie Nkosi,” Cabonge said in the recording.
He further claimed that Sibiya had recently contacted him to borrow R200 000.
“He (Sibiya) called me recently saying that I must borrow him R200 000,” Cabonge said.
Cabonge added that he was unwilling to continue helping Sibiya without benefiting from the arrangement, saying he did not want to be left with only petrol money.
The recording also contains claims about Cabonge’s alleged connections to a person he said sat at the Madlanga Commission.
Cabonge claimed that he had been advised to leave the country and would be protected if his name emerged during the commission’s proceedings. The identity of the person he was referring to was not disclosed in the recording.
In another part of the conversation, Cabonge claimed to have helped the family of a person he described as a judge president after a woman allegedly collided with another woman carrying a child in Sandton.
He claimed that he used his police connections to establish details of the case and that the charges were withdrawn within about a week after the family sought his assistance.
Cabonge has previously been mentioned during hearings before the commission.
The commission said it would not comment further on the matter at this stage.
Sibiya, who resigned from the South African Police Service amid disciplinary proceedings, is facing criminal charges including rape, sexual grooming of a minor and human trafficking. He has denied the allegations.
His bail application was postponed to Wednesday as the court sought further information about the safety of the complainants and concerns over possible witness interference.
