WhatsApp messages presented to the Madlanga Commission have added to allegations of protection payments and business intimidation involving two of Mpumalanga’s prominent taxi bosses, while also raising questions about their links to police officers and men accused or convicted of taxi-related killings.
The commission heard further evidence from the criminal case against Mpumalanga taxi bosses Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni and Bafana Sindane, who allegedly demanded R2 million in protection fees from Tengane Mining while seeking a share of the business operating along the Moloto Road route into Mpumalanga.
The two men, who face extortion and money-laundering charges, are out on R70 000 bail. Sibanyoni has spent several days giving evidence at the commission. Sindane, however, has applied for a postponement for spiritual reasons related to his journey to be a sangoma.
During his testimony, Sibanyoni pointed to Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya and Sergeant Fannie Nkosi as some of the police officers who “went to the farm”.
“We knew that he was reporting at the farm,” said Sibanyoni. The farm was owned by the late Jotham “King Mswazi” Msibi and has featured repeatedly at the commission as a place allegedly linking various suspects, including Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Sibanyoni said various individuals would visit the farm. “At some point while we were driving, we were even afraid to comply when the police were stopping us. We would think those police are reporting to the farm; they want to kidnap us one way or another,” he said.
“Whoever was reporting at the farm, to me, I take it they were taking Mr Msibi’s instructions. One of those instructions they carried out by shooting me at the Centurion estate,” he said. Sibanyoni has conceded that he visited the farm a couple of times but said he had stopped going by the time Msibi died in 2024. He has told the commission that he had fallen out with Msibi and has blamed him for two assassination attempts against him.
Sibanyoni and Sindane are accused of extorting Tengane Mining after the company began supplying aggregate stone for the construction of the R573 Moloto Road between 2021 and 2025. Tengane was awarded the contract to supply stone material for the Moloto Road project by the South African National Roads Agency.
In his affidavit, Tengane Ntuli told the Commission that the two men threatened to split his contract 60%-40% because he was operating in the area. Ntuli pushed back, saying this would kill his business. They then demanded that he make monthly payments of R100 000.
Ntuli said he had secured the contract himself as a permit holder licensed by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. He told the Commission that Sibanyoni and Sindane sent him multiple WhatsApp messages demanding that he attend meetings and make payments. Tengane Mining director Bathabile Ntuli also told the commission via an affidavit that the company made regular payments under duress. The company made R2 million in payments before they decided to go to court.
“All the payments which were done to Mr Joe Sibanyoni and his team by Tengane Pty were made under duress as we were fearing for our lives, taking into account the bad operational history of Mr Joe Sibanyoni in Kwaggafontein. It was a normal practice that if you do not cooperate with his demands your life will be in danger,” Bathabile Ntuli said.
Testimony from the commission suggests the construction and transport economy along Mpumalanga’s Moloto Road appears to have operated under an unwritten rule that businesses had to share in government contracts or at least pay to work in the area.
“Their instruction was I need to pay them R100 000. I immediately paid that amount of R100 000 to Mr Joe Sibanyoni, into the account of MJ & Son Transport,” said Ntuli.
In a series of WhatsApp messages, Sindane repeatedly reminded Ntuli not to forget to make the payments. When the money fell short, the messages pressed him not to default.
“Good day, bab’ Ntuli, I’m sad and disappointed to have to write another message to you to chase for payment. You will remember that we’ve been very lenient towards you regarding the deal that you have and our share in it.
“We had initially agreed on a 60/40 split between you and the President (Sibanyoni). This was later reviewed and reduced to a more manageable amount for you. You used to pay R100 000, but I’m now left confused as to why you’ve reduced the payment,” said a text Sindane sent to Ntuli.
Sibanyoni has denied that the messages demonstrate extortion or criminal control of the province.
He told the commission that the payments described by Ntuli as protection money were instead linked to “local business support”. He distanced himself from the more threatening language in the WhatsApp messages.
He said there was a business arrangement in which Tengane was required to pay R100 000 a month for local support led by community leaders like Makhaya Msiza and Mvimba Masilela. He admitted to sending some of the money to Sindane.
“The nature of this transaction, Mr Sindane used to benefit from it through me,” Sibanyoni told the commission.
One message presented to the commission referred to a “new sheriff in town” following Msibi’s death. When Sibanyoni was asked about the reference, he rejected the description of himself as the new sheriff, saying he should instead be referred to as “the president”.
The WhatsApp evidence further indicated that Sibanyoni and Sindane had cornered the lucrative Moloto Road economy. One message referred to an alleged R500 million contract on the road which the two men were seeking to acquire.
The commission also heard this week of the alleged financing of men convicted of taxi-related murders.
During cross-examination, Sibanyoni was confronted with evidence that he had paid the legal expenses of Calvin Gwabo Mahlangu, who was convicted in a taxi-related killing.
Sibanyoni did not deny paying the legal fees. Instead, he said he had intervened after Mahlangu’s mother asked him for assistance. He said providing financial assistance did not mean he had hired or instructed the men to commit killings.
The commission has also heard evidence about a period in which Putco buses were burned and more than 350 incidents involving taxis blocking buses were recorded.
It has been alleged that pressure was deliberately applied to force Putco towards a sale, after the bus company was at loggerheads with Sibanyoni and GCBS, a local bus company, over the relinquishing of 30% of its routes to operate in Mpumalanga.
Sibanyoni has rejected these allegations, describing his involvement with Putco as engagement rather than interference.
Sindane’s WhatsApp texts were read in his absence at the commission. He was expected to testify on 28 September but applied for a postponement, citing ill health and a period of spiritual seclusion (ukuthwasa) connected to his journey to becoming a sangoma.
Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga rejected the applications, finding that Sindane had waited until late in the process to challenge his subpoena. His WhatsApp evidence was subsequently placed on the public record in his absence.
Sindane’s texts included messages to Ntuli about the R100 000 payments.
Other chats presented to the commission related to the payment of legal fees, discussions involving alleged “izinkabi” and tender bids, as well as the sharing of confidential police documents.
From 5 October, the Madlanga Commission is expected to hear on-camera evidence from former deputy crime intelligence head Feroz Khan. Open public hearings are scheduled to resume on 9 November 2026.