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By Anita Dangazele
- Taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni is expected to testify at the Madlanga Commission on Friday about Kwaggafontein and alleged criminal syndicates.
- Sibanyoni runs a fleet of around 400 minibus taxis and was previously the target of an alleged 2022 assassination attempt linked to Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni is expected to take the stand at the Madlanga Commission on Friday morning, where he’ll be questioned about Kwaggafontein and alleged criminal syndicates.
Sibanyoni, whose real name is Madoda Johannes Sibanyoni, built his fortune from nothing. He entered the taxi industry at 19 in 1985, bought his first taxi a decade later, and grew his fleet to around 400 minibus taxis operating across Gauteng and Mpumalanga, reportedly bringing in about R18 million a month. He now serves as executive president of the South African Local and Long Distance Taxi and Bus Organisation, and sits on the executive of the South African National Taxi Council.
He’s appeared repeatedly in commission testimony, where investigators have alleged he is a key figure in a cartel known as the “Big Five,” accused of manipulating police investigations and controlling routes through violence and extortion. He was formally served with a Rule 10.6 notice by the commission, compelling him to respond to allegations linked to Kwaggafontein.
Sibanyoni is also facing a separate criminal case, unrelated to the commission’s work, in which he and several co-accused face charges of extortion and money laundering, accused of demanding more than R2.2 million in “protection fees” from a mining businessman between 2022 and 2025. He and his co-accused are out on bail of R70,000 each in that matter.
He has also featured in the commission’s proceedings as an alleged victim. In 2022, gunmen armed with assault rifles allegedly ambushed Sibanyoni in an attack linked to underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala; a security guard testified at Matlala’s ongoing trial that he fired 15 shots at the attackers during the ambush. Sibanyoni survived unharmed.
Pictured above: Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni is expected to take the stand at the Madlanga Commission on Friday.
Image source: File
