• Magistrate Hleziphi Mkhasibe said Shadrack Sibiya failed to prove exceptional circumstances for bail. He stays in custody at Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria.

• His case returns to the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on 24 November for further investigations. He denies the rape, human trafficking and grooming charges.

The Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg has denied bail to former deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya, who faces charges including rape, human trafficking and sexual grooming of a 16-year-old girl.

Magistrate Hleziphi Mkhasibe said on Tuesday, 20 October, that Sibiya failed to prove to the court that exceptional circumstances exist to justify granting him bail.

The ruling followed a bail application that lasted three weeks. The case was postponed to 24 November for further investigations. Sibiya remains in custody.

Under the Criminal Procedure Act, a person charged with a Schedule 6 offence, one of the most serious categories, must prove that exceptional circumstances exist before they can be released on bail. The State argued that this applied to Sibiya.

Sibiya, 59, was arrested on 21 September and has been held at Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria. He resigned from the South African Police Service on 12 October as his disciplinary hearing began. He denies the allegations.

The State opposed bail. It argued that Sibiya could flee the country, intimidate witnesses or interfere with evidence.

Prosecutor Velile Makasana told the court on 15 October, after closing arguments: “They haven’t come even close to showing that the state case is weak.”

Sibiya’s lawyer, Estelle Killian SC, proposed bail of R20,000 with strict conditions, including no contact with complainants or witnesses, and said he would surrender his passport.

A bail ruling does not decide whether Sibiya is guilty. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty.