A Saps investigation into Scharnick revealed 29 criminal cases were reduced to a single conviction.
KwaZulu-Natal police have uncovered evidence that a South African Police Service (Saps) employee manipulated the criminal records system to benefit James Stuart Scharnick, who is alleged to be connected to suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya.
Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo has previously testified at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that Scharnick has a criminal history, including carjacking and vehicle theft.
Scharnick has since opened a defamation case against Khumalo.
Acting deputy provincial commissioner for crime detection Major-General Anthony Gopaul on Thursday revealed that on 16 January at 4.58pm, a Saps employee from the Criminal Records Centre allegedly accessed the system and made adjustments to Scharnick’s records.
The discovery came during an audit prompted by Scharnick’s public statements following the testimony at the Madlanga commission.
“That’s why Mr Scharnick is so confident to say there will be nothing on the system,” said Gopaul.
However, the employee failed to account for the system’s backend auditing capabilities.
“On the backend of systems, the transactions which he deleted reflect and remain on the backend of the system,” Gopaul said.
Scharnick’s 29 cases
The investigation was triggered by the conflicting statements of Khumalo and Scharnick.
Scharnick claimed he had only one case with 18 counts, for which he received a five-year suspended sentence and paid a fine.
Gopaul’s team conducted a physical examination of all case dockets involving Scharnick in KwaZulu-Natal, uncovering a vastly different picture.
“I want to highlight a few observations that we have made through this exercise. So the first thing I would want to indicate is that we have looked at 29 criminal case documents,” he said.
Of these 29 cases, 18 involved serious vehicle-related crimes:
- 10 cases of motor vehicle theft;
- 8 cases of carjacking;
- 1 count of housebreaking.
“These dockets were centralised to the serious organised crime unit within the direction of priority investigations,” Gopaul noted, adding that examination of the dockets revealed “very common actors that facilitate and enable organised crime to take place, from a scrapyard dealer to police clearance”.
Questions over plea agreement process
The investigation revealed that all 18 vehicle-related cases were consolidated in court and resolved through a single plea agreement, resulting in a five-year wholly suspended sentence and a R150 000 fine payable over five years.
Gopaul expressed concern about the appropriateness of such a sentence for multiple serious crimes.
He emphasised that while police cannot comment on prosecutorial decisions, the matter raises serious questions. “This is something for the NPA to comment on as to how they arrive at that plea for so many of these cases,” Gopaul said.
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Additional criminal cases
Beyond the 18 vehicle-related cases, Gopaul detailed 11 additional cases involving Scharnick:
- Assault GBH (fine of R3 000 or three months imprisonment)
- Common assault and pointing of a firearm (30 days imprisonment or R1 500 fine)
- Assault GBH (not enrolled after victim changed statement)
- Theft of motor vehicle (withdrawn in court)
- Common robbery in Richards Bay (withdrawn due to insufficient evidence)
- Common assault (declined to prosecute)
- Assault GBH and pointing of firearm (resolved through alternative dispute resolution)
- Possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition (found not guilty)
- Malicious injury to property in Richards Bay (found not guilty)
- Discharging firearm in public place in Richards Bay (found not guilty)
- Theft in Maiden Wharf (found not guilty)
Firearm licenses
The investigation also uncovered that Scharnick currently owns five firearms, despite his criminal history. Gopaul questioned how someone with such convictions could acquire firearms licences.
According to the acting deputy commissioner, records show Scharnick made multiple attempts to obtain competency certificates and licences, with several applications initially refused for failing to disclose previous convictions and pending criminal cases.
However, he eventually succeeded in obtaining licences for multiple firearms in 2023, all under the category of “sporting” purposes, as per Section 16 of the Firearms Control Act.
“When you look at issues like this, the public will ask themselves, you and the DPP and the judicial commission for these serious offences and the number of dockets we’re talking about, is it appropriate?” Gopaul questioned.
The question became more pointed when police obtained video footage showing Scharnick brandishing a rifle in public. “The posture and the demeanour suggest that he’s a security person of some sort,” despite not being registered as a security officer.
“What sporting will you be doing in a public open area? Brandishing a firearm, a rifle by the way, not any firearm, a rifle,” Gopaul said.
WATCH: Stuart James Scharnick carrying of the five guns he owns – KZN Tonight Podcast pic.twitter.com/hax8xMFBFH
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) November 13, 2025
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Convictions exceed expungement threshold
Gopaul also addressed the possibility that Scharnick’s convictions could have been legally expunged from his record.
While certain minor offences can be expunged under specific conditions, Scharnick’s case does not qualify.
“There are certain provisions and conditions in certain offences and the fine cannot exceed a certain amount of money. In his case, the fine was R150 000. The threshold is R20 000,” Gopaul said.
“So there’s no way one would suggest that he could have obtained an expungement of these offences from his criminal record.”
Multiple referrals planned
KZN police are now preparing two separate dossiers based on their findings. One will be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions to review the scope and mandate of the prosecutor who handled Scharnick’s plea agreement.
The second will go to the Judicial Service Commission to determine whether the magistrate who accepted the plea was provided with all relevant information.
“We are referring this to the NPA to review what scope, role or mandate was undertaken by the prosecutor. Did he have that delegation to do that? Was he approved?” Gopaul said.
He said that the police would also investigate how Scharnick was granted his firearms licences despite his criminal record.
Additionally, Gopaul said they would examine potential irregularities in the application process at Richards Bay and other police stations.
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Employee investigation underway
Regarding the Saps employee who allegedly manipulated Scharnick’s criminal records, Gopaul said that the individual is stationed at the national Criminal Records Centre and falls outside provincial management oversight.
“There are integral ethical rules of compliance when an employee is given access to systems, in terms of the employee’s service, in terms of a password and your integrity issues in respect of sharing the password in terms of sharing information from there,” he said.
The division will address both disciplinary and legal aspects of the case.
Gopaul added that police would recommend a broader investigation into all deletion transactions in the criminal records system over recent years to identify potential similar cases.
‘What is factual about your reputation?’
Following Khumalo’s testimony at the Madlanga commission, Scharnick claimed his reputation was being tarnished and indicated his intention to sue the acting minister and Saps for defamation.
Gopaul addressed these claims. “When he says his reputation is being violated, then when I look at this history that I’ve provided, I’m trying to ask myself, what is factual here about your reputation?”
He emphasised that the briefing was necessary to clarify Saps’ position rather than wait years for civil litigation to conclude.
Gopaul stressed that police discovered the full extent of irregularities only after Scharnick’s public statements prompted investigations, which are ongoing.
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