SAPS Employee Under Scrutiny After Stuart Scharnick’s Criminal Records Were Deleted From System

• KwaZulu-Natal Police provided more details about the criminal cases against Stuart James Scharnick
• Scharnick, an associate of Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, opened a case against General Dumisani Khumalo
• Major General Anthony Gopaul noted how Scharnick's criminal records were deleted from the police system's front end

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.

KWAZULU-NATAL – Police are investigating one of their own after it emerged that an employee deleted the criminal records of Stuart James Scharnick from the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) system earlier this year.

Scharnick, an associate of Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, has been in the news of late following allegations made by Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

General Khumalo, the head of Crime Intelligence, detailed Scharnick’s criminal record before the commission. The allegations were disputed by Scharnick, who not only denied that he was General Sibiya’s bodyguard but also claimed that General Khumalo defamed him. He has since opened a case against the Crime Intelligence Head.

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Police provide details on Scharnick’s case

In a media briefing on Thursday, 13 November 2025, Acting Deputy KZN Provincial Commissioner, Major General Anthony Gopaul, provided details about Scharnick’s numerous cases. He noted that Scharnick claimed he had criminal convictions, but none were for vehicle hijacking, as stated by Khumalo.

General Gopal also revealed that an employee deleted the criminal records of Scharnick from the system. The records were still retrievable from the system’s back end, which allowed investigators to uncover the incident.

General Gopal could not confirm whether the incident was done purposefully or was an accident. The employee also works for the police’s Criminal Records Centre, which fell under national and was therefore not under the scope of managerial oversight of KZN SAPS.

They were therefore not privy to what would happen to the employee.

Source: Briefly News