Joe ‘Ferrari’ stopped in bid to take over Putco after 51 buses torched

A month after 51 Putco buses were torched at three depots in KwaNdebele, Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni approached the bus company with an unsolicited offer to buy its whole fleet.

The timing of the interest came under intense scrutiny at the Madlanga commission of inquiry on Wednesday, as Sibanyoni faced questions about his dealings with the taxi industry and Putco in the area.

Sibanyoni, who has been accused of extorting businesses operating in Kwaggafontein, denied any involvement in the attacks on Putco.

The commission heard that the torching of the buses on January 27 2025 came about a year after Sibanyoni had met President Cyril Ramaphosa and minerals and energy minister Gwede Mantashe. During that meeting in January 2024, Sibanyoni raised concerns about the red tape he said was preventing local businesses from getting opportunities to work with the bus company.

“When you find someone wanting to interfere with Putco business, you must know it is us. Don’t put red tapes [sic],” Sibanyoni told the meeting.

Yesterday, he told the commission that at the time they were “engaging” Putco over a proposal that would see 30% of the work going to local businesses.

The 30% local procurement requirement formed part of the government’s preferential procurement framework aimed at creating opportunities for local and designated groups through subcontracting.

For nine months, the bus company operations in KwaNdebele came under sustained pressure.

The commission heard that Putco recorded more than 350 incidents between October 2024 and January 2025, in which its buses were allegedly blocked from operating by taxi operators. Bus drivers were subjected to constant intimidation.

Sibanyoni distanced himself from the attacks, pointing to the registration numbers of the taxis captured in video footage presented to the commission. He said the taxis in the footage were registered in Mpumalanga, while his taxis carried Gauteng and Limpopo registration numbers.

Then on January 27 2025, Putco suffered a major blow when 51 buses were torched at three of its KwaNdebele depots in one night.

A video flighted at the commission showed that it took the criminals less than 10 minutes to hold security guards at gunpoint at Putco’s Moloto depot in Mpumalanga and torch 16 buses.

One of the attackers is seen carrying a can of flammable liquid, which is then sprayed over the buses before they are set alight. The liquid was sprayed from about 11.38pm, with smoke becoming visible by 11.41am. Seven minutes later, the CCTV camera was engulfed in smoke, obscuring the scene.

In the minutes that followed, several people were seen desperately pushing cars parked inside the depot towards the street in an effort to save them.

But just 36 hours after fire attacks, Sibanyoni sent a text message to his associate, Bafana Sindane, saying he wanted to purchase Putco buses via bank financing.

In his supplementary statement, Sibanyoni went further, suggesting that the possibility that Putco had torched its own buses should be investigated.

“It is a distinct possibility and indeed, a matter that should be formally investigated and interrogated with serious precision,” he said.

Sibanyoni claimed there was a prevailing theory that Putco had torched its own buses in connection with labour and industry disputes at the time. But chief evidence leader Adv Matthew Chaskalson dismissed this suggesting, saying there was no recorded labour dispute prior to the incident.

A month after the fire attacks, Taxichoice, whose executives included Sibanyoni and directors of several taxi organisations, approached Putco with a written offer to buy the bus company. They also intended a buy-in into Putco contracts with other companies.

Sibanyoni was appointed as a director of Taxichoice in the same month of operators approaching Putco.

Putco, however, raised concerns about the timing of the approach, telling the taxi operators that the company was not on the market.

However, it said any bona fide interested party would have to meet stringent financial conditions before any further discussions could take place. These included a non-refundable R100m deposit to Putco shareholders and a minimum R2bn cash guarantee from a reputable finance house accredited by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.

Putco said only once these conditions had been met, would any further process be considered.

The chronology of events prompted Chaskalson to question whether the attacks on Putco had followed difficulties in securing the proposed 30% local stake and whether they were intended to pressure the company into selling.

“I differ with your findings, and if you understand it differently, it’s unfortunate,” he said.

The commission also heard about a separate exchange between Sibanyoni and his associate Sindane involving an internal SAPS report into the murder of Sgt MM Lekalakala near the Mabopane Putco depot.

Sibanyoni was questioned about why Sindane would have sent him the internal police report, which was headlined, “Organised crime investigation unit under Lekalakala”. He said he didn’t know why Sindane had done so, and that there were lots of messages being circulated among taxi operators.