WATCH | EXPLAINER: How taxi boss Jothan Msibi ‘used Ze Nxumalo’ to rig Ekurhuleni tender

Chief evidence leader at Madlanga commission Adv Matthew Chaskalson has revealed that late taxi boss and alleged “Big Five” criminal cartel president Jothan Msibi “may have used businessman Ze Nxumalo” to rig a tender in Ekurhuleni in April 2023.

Though Chaskalson did not detail how the rigging of the tender happened, he revealed WhatsApp conversations between Nxumalo and Msibi about the identification of a tender the City of Ekurhuleni had not yet issued.

“Mr Msibi appears to have used Mr Ze Nxumalo to rig a tender for him at Ekurhuleni. We see at chat number three between Msibi and Nxumalo,” Chaskalson said.

Adv. Matthew Chaskalson says it is very worrying that Jothan Msibi, Katiso Molefe, Steve Mutsumi and Sgt. Nkosi, under the pretence of representing the state, were in possession of technology that should only be in the hands of Crime Intelligence, which uses it under strict… pic.twitter.com/V7MI8IyHdp— Sowetan (@Sowetan1981) August 18, 2026

According to Chakalson, chats had shown that Msibi had at some stage inquired from Nxumalo if he had spoken to a person referred to as “Jose” and about the “Ekurhuleni issue”.

In June 2023, Nxumalo sent a message to Msibi where another person seems to ask whether the tender is spoken for or awarded through a panel.

In September 2023, another individual, identified as Steve Motsumi, sent Msibi contact details of former Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi.

Motsumi has been placed at the centre of a criminal cartel Msibi allegedly led.

The tender featured in the Nxumalo and Msibi chats was officially awarded in November 2023. It was awarded to a company Msibi had preferred − “Kemprock” (Kamrock).

“So as early as April, Mr Msibi had identified that this contract should be for the benefit of Kamrock.”

In June, Sowetan’s sister publication Sunday Times reported that Nxumalo financed Mashazi’s trip to the UK in July 2022.

The trip is said to have cost Nxumalo R3.5m. The reason for bankrolling the trip has not been established.

The other chats presented before the commission are between North West businessman Suliman Carrim and Msibi. The chats appeared to be about the plot to sub-contract a Gauteng bus service tender in 2021.

“Mr Msibi, in chat four, sends back the details of presumably his entity that’s going to be subcontracted [to Carrim]”.

The late Msibi is alleged to have been the leader of the “Big Five” cartel that deals with drug distribution, contract killings, and cross-border hijackings, while Molefe was also said to be a leader.

While little information has emerged about Motsumi’s dealings, former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Lesetja Senona was allegedly scared to mention his name during his testimony at the commission.