By Anita Dangazele
- Bonke Makalala, an Eastern Cape taxi boss who also owns long-distance buses, and Santaco provincial leader Simphiwe “Gabs” Mtshala are among seven people denied bail in Cape Town today.
- The group faces 156 charges including racketeering, extortion and kidnapping, linked to over 220 attacks on buses, drivers and passengers since 2021.
Seven people accused of running a violent extortion racket against long-distance bus companies will stay behind bars.
A Cape Town magistrate denied them bail, finding they were likely to intimidate witnesses if released.
The accused are Bonke Makalala, Simphiwe Mtshala, Mzuvukile Mbiyo, Siyanda Dyantyti, Gwendoline Mazele, Siphelele Kwaza and Simphiwe Gxumayo. They face 156 charges including racketeering, extortion, kidnapping and money laundering.
Makalala is an Eastern Cape taxi boss who also owns long-distance buses, including his own company, Makalala Trans. Intercape CEO Johann Ferreira has long named him as a central figure in the campaign, saying Makalala personally wrote demands on a whiteboard at a 2022 meeting with bus operators — telling companies to raise ticket prices to R1,000 and stop operating in certain Eastern Cape towns.
Mtshala is a Santaco provincial leader in the Eastern Cape who also owns an armed security company. He had previously been arrested four times in five months on charges including taxi-related murders and extortion, but those charges were withdrawn each time.
The group is accused of demanding protection fees of up to R5-million from bus operators, including Intercape, Greyhound and Eagle Liner, in exchange for allowing their buses to travel routes they shared with taxi operators. When companies refused, the attacks followed.
Intercape has logged more than 220 incidents of violence and intimidation since January 2021. In April 2022, driver Bangikhaya Machana was shot dead outside a Cape Town depot. Passengers were stoned. Commuters were forced off buses during armed standoffs on the road.
In towns like Ngcobo and Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape, buses stopped running entirely. Local commuters lost their only affordable route out.
Ferreira said pleas sent directly to President Cyril Ramaphosa and several transport ministers went unanswered for years. The Eastern Cape High Court eventually found SAPS in contempt of court for failing to investigate the attacks as organised crime.
The case was postponed to 20 July 2026.
Pictured above: An Intercape long-distance bus on the road.
Image source: Intercape/Facebook Page
