By Johnathan Paoli
The state has raised concerns about alleged threats against investigators in the R2.2-million extortion case involving taxi boss Johannes “Ferrari” Sibanyoni and three co-accused.
Appearing in the Delmas Magistrate’s Court, Mpumalanga on Tuesday, prosecutor Mkhuseli Ntaba said: “We want to place on record that we received a concern from the investigating team that they are receiving threats relating to this case. However, we are not insinuating or making any allegation or any inferences,” Ntaba said.
“If there is anything related to this case, it must come to an end. We are still having a long journey to go in dealing with this matter at the end of it,” he added.
The allegations prompted an immediate response from the defence, which distanced the accused from any threats and accused the prosecution of unfairly raising the issue in court without prior warning.
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Former National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams, representing Sibanyoni, said his clients distanced themselves entirely from any threats directed at anyone involved in the matter.
He objected to the manner in which the state had introduced the threats issue, saying it had not been discussed during earlier consultations in chambers.
“For it to be sprung in court as a surprise for us is surprising. We’re not sure what it is intended to achieve other than to put the accused in a bad light,” Abrahams said.
He said the accused did not condone threats against law enforcement officers and wanted any allegations formally documented and disclosed so they could respond appropriately.
Abrahams said the defence had believed it was dealing with a final disclosure of the docket and understood that investigations had been concluded.
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He said the parties had agreed to hold a round-table meeting to establish what material remained outstanding and avoid unnecessary litigation.
But the exchanges intensified when the state disclosed that South African Revenue Service (SARS)-related investigations remained outstanding.
Abrahams strongly disputed their relevance to the criminal case, arguing that the charge sheet contained no SARS-related charges or allegations.
“The SARS investigations have nothing to do with this matter. Absolutely nothing. It’s got nothing to do with this criminal matter. Those are issues that are separate from this criminal trial,” he said.
He maintained that the SARS issues were private matters and should not have been raised in court, particularly when the parties had allegedly agreed that the case would be postponed for final investigations.
Senior counsel Thabani Masuku, representing Oupa “Bafana” Sindane, argued that introducing the SARS issue risked unfairly damaging the accused’s reputations, particularly because the proceedings were being televised.
“The only reason why the SARS issue was raised is to literally scandalise the accused,” he said.
The defence further accused the prosecution of effectively coordinating with SARS to “ambush” the accused in court over matters unrelated to the charges they face.
“What shouldn’t happen and what you do not expect is that the prosecution would facilitate with SARS and coordinate with SARS to come and ambush the accused here in court when the accused are here for something totally different…”, Masuku said.
The state rejected the suggestion that it was being told which investigations it could pursue, maintaining that further statements and disclosure relating to the extortion allegations were still outstanding.
Magistrate Sinakiwe Buthelezi questioned the parties about the outstanding investigations and whether the postponement would be the final one.
Sibanyoni, Sindane, Mvimbi Daniel Masilela and Philemon Makhaya Msiza, face one count of extortion and two counts of money laundering.
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The State alleges that the four extorted more than R2.2-million in so-called protection fees from mining businessman Thomas Thengane Ntuli, whose company was involved in supplying material for the R3.7-billion Moloto Road upgrade.
According to the allegations, the payments were demanded between 2022 and 2025, with Ntuli claiming that he faced possible disruption to his business if he did not pay.
The accused deny the allegations, with Sibanyoni maintaining that the payments were linked to a business venture rather than extortion.
The accused, who were each granted R70,000 bail, had previously sought relaxation of their reporting conditions amid complaints about delays in receiving the final charge sheet and outstanding docket material.
The court agreed to relax their bail conditions, requiring them to report to their designated police stations once a month instead of more frequently.
The matter was postponed to 20 April 2027.
