Taxi industry figure Joe ‘Ferrari’ Sibanyoni told the Madlanga Commission on 28 August 2026 that he warned former police minister Bheki Cele in May 2022 about a criminal cartel driving violence in the taxi industry and alleged senior SAPS complicity, only to have his concerns dismissed. Sibanyoni, testifying before the commission probing organised-crime infiltration of the taxi sector, also emphatically denied being a member of the alleged ‘Big Five’ syndicate at the centre of the inquiry.
According to the commission’s witness page, Sibanyoni said he sent Cele a WhatsApp message on 5 May 2022 requesting an inquiry into a cartel with roots inside the police. ‘As I send you this message minister, be aware that service delivery around greater Tshwane and surroundings is highly disturbed by the same cartel which I have solid facts on,’ Sibanyoni told the commission, quoting his message to Cele.
The Citizen reported that Sibanyoni told the commission alleged Big Five leader Jotham ‘Mswazi’ Msibi tried to have him killed. The commission’s network page identifies the Big Five as a Gauteng-based criminal syndicate under examination, not a finding confirmed by a court.
Sibanyoni was shot twice in an attempted assassination in Centurion on 10 August 2022, according to commission coverage and court-reporting summaries. The commission’s witness page records that he had also been shot in 2006. No one has been convicted for either attack, and responsibility for the 2022 shooting remains alleged rather than proven.
Multiple outlets, including Daily Maverick and Briefly, reported that Cele dismissed Sibanyoni’s warning with a remark along the lines of: ‘What do you want me to do because you kill each other in the taxi industry anyway.’ This specific wording could not be independently verified from a transcript or recording and should be treated as reported but unconfirmed.
‘I deny, emphatically and absolutely, that I am or have ever been a member of any criminal organisation, cartel, syndicate or grouping,’ Sibanyoni told the commission. The Madlanga Commission’s network page confirms he cast himself as a target of the Big Five rather than a participant.
EWN reported on 29 August 2026 that Sibanyoni implicated transport officials in the alleged cartel, though the identities and roles of those officials have not been independently verified across multiple sources. The commission materials note that Msibi’s death in January 2024 brought Sibanyoni relief, though this detail is drawn from commission summary material and has not been corroborated by a second independent source.
The Madlanga Commission continues to examine links between criminal syndicates and state officials, with further witness testimony expected. Cape Flats News journalist Nadia Daniels will check for updated commission transcripts and any SAPS response to the allegations by 2 September 2026.