By Anita Dangazele
- An urgent High Court application filed in Mbombela on Thursday argues the Delmas court had no jurisdiction to issue the arrest warrants.
- The extortion case was struck off the roll after the state prosecutor failed to appear at a bail hearing earlier this month.
Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni and his co-accused Bafana Sindane are not just fighting their arrest. They are arguing the court that issued the warrants against them had no power to do so.
The two filed an urgent High Court application in Mbombela on Thursday to stop police executing J50 warrants of arrest. In the application, they argue that the alleged offences fall under the Kwaggafontein Magistrate’s Court, not the Delmas Magistrate’s Court.
“The magistrate at Delmas had no authority, power, or jurisdiction to issue warrant of arrests in respect of offences committed within the Thembisile Hani sub-district,” the application reads.
Sibanyoni, Sindane and co-accused Mvimbi Masilela and Philemon Msiza were arrested earlier this month and charged with extortion and money laundering. The case relates to allegations that the group extorted more than R2 million in protection fees from a mining entrepreneur.
The matter was struck off the roll after senior state prosecutor Adv Mkhuseli Ntaba failed to appear at a bail hearing. The National Prosecuting Authority announced on Wednesday that it was re-enrolling the case at the Delmas Magistrate’s Court.
Sibanyoni and Sindane say the move was unlawful. In their application, they argue that being arrested would cost them their freedom, cause trauma and damage their reputations further. They say there is no other legal route open to them.
The matter is expected to be heard on 2 June. NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed the papers had been served.
“The papers are now set,” Kganyago said.
Pictured above: Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni and his co-accused during a previous court appearance.
Image source: NPA
