Sibanyoni Distances Himself from Cartels, Extortions and More

Taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni has distanced himself from underworld operations and the so-called Big 5 Cartel.

Testifying at the Madlanga Commission on Tuesday, he also denied links to extortionists belonging to a group known as the Kwagga 20.

Sibanyoni conceded that he had paid for the legal fees of convicted hitman Gwabo Mahlangu. However, he told the Commission that he was opposed to the deadly attacks in the taxi industry.

Mahlangu was accused of killing a taxi marshal and Sibanyoni said he helped only because Mahlangu’s family asked him to.

“His mother reached out to me and my assistance was based on that, not based on him personally,” he told the Commission.

Sibanyoni was at pains to describe himself as an honest businessman, assisting in the development of projects in his community of Kwaggafontein. This brought into the spotlight the R500 million Moloto Road project and a tender by businessman Dr Thomas Ntuli.

Ntuli had accused Sibanyoni of demanding protection fees.

The taxi boss said Ntuli did not qualify for the tender in Kwaggafontein as he was from Middleburg. Therefore, Ntuli had to surrender 30 percent of his tender as part of “local content”.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry, local content is described as labour, manufacturing and materials must be sourced locally and is expressed in a percentage.

The aim is for local manufacturers to receive a substantial share of government business. This may also help contribute to the development of local industries and create jobs.

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It came to light during the Commission that this was not the case for Sibanyoni as his 30 percent share brought nothing to the table. His request for R100,000 “first profit” was self-enrichment.

Sibanyoni defended himself saying that Ntuli had borrowed R900,000 from him. He insists his role in the “local content” verbal agreement ends with coordinating the meetings between key individuals and does not make decisions in the projects.