Sibiya to remain in custody until Thursday as bail hearing continues

Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya will remain in custody pending his return to the Randburg Magistrates' Court on Thursday, when his bail hearing is set to conclude.

During Tuesday's hearing, Sibiya denied the charges against him, which include rape, sexual grooming of a minor and human trafficking, telling the court the allegations are unfounded, Alpha Ramushwana reports for EWN.

He was arrested last week at a venue in Sandton after police obtained evidence they allege shows he groomed a 16-year-old girl, the daughter of a close associate, and exchanged explicit images with her over WhatsApp. He denies ever having had a sexual relationship with her.

The state alleges Sibiya sent the girl a video of herself that he says he received from her father. In an affidavit read to the court by his lawyer, Estelle Killian, Sibiya said the father had sent him the video after discovering it, expressing disappointment in his daughter's behaviour and confiding in Sibiya about it.

Sibiya's account also states that the father told him the girl had a crush on him, which he says he then raised with her directly over WhatsApp.