The R2 million extortion and money laundering case against Joe Ferrari Sibanyoni and three co-accused has been struck off the roll at the Kwaggafontein Magistrate’s Court after the State prosecutor and investigating officer failed to appear. Photo: Sphamandla Dlamini/EWN
The R2 million extortion and money laundering case against taxi boss Joe Ferrari Sibanyoni and three co-accused has been struck off the roll at the Kwaggafontein Magistrate’s Court after the State prosecutor and investigating officer failed to appear. A warrant of arrest has been issued for prosecutor Mkhuseli Ntaba. All four accused are free.
The extortion and money laundering case against prominent Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe Ferrari Sibanyoni, multi-millionaire taxi boss Bafana Sindane, Mvimbi Daniel Masilela and Philemon Msiza has collapsed at the Kwaggafontein Magistrate’s Court on Monday 18 May 2026 after State prosecutor Mkhuseli Ntaba and the investigating officer failed to appear in court. The case has been struck off the roll. A warrant of arrest has been issued for Ntaba. All four accused have walked free.
The development is as embarrassing as it is extraordinary and it comes just days after the presiding magistrate publicly warned the very same prosecutor that she would push the bail hearing down her throat if she failed to appear on Monday morning. The court had been left waiting for hours despite a strict judicial order that proceedings resume at 09:00.
The Warning That Was Ignored
On Friday 15 May 2026, the bail application for all four accused was postponed to Monday after the prosecutor told the court she was unavailable and that it would be impossible to proceed on that date. The magistrate was unimpressed. In a moment that drew widespread public attention, the magistrate said she was humbly requesting the prosecutor’s presence on Monday and warned that if she did not appear she would have to push it down her throat. The prosecutor was ordered to be present at the court by 9am on Monday morning.
On Monday morning the court waited. And waited. Neither the prosecutor nor the investigating officer appeared. The magistrate had no choice but to strike the matter off the roll. A warrant of arrest was subsequently issued for prosecutor Mkhuseli Ntaba.
A Week That Ended in Chaos
The collapse of the case brings to an end a dramatic and chaotic week of court proceedings that gripped national attention. Sibanyoni, 60, was arrested by the Special Task Force at his Pretoria residence in the early hours of Tuesday 12 May 2026. Co-accused Mvimbi Daniel Masilela and Philemon Msiza were arrested alongside him. Multi-millionaire taxi boss Bafana Sindane handed himself over at the Kwaggafontein Police Station on Friday 15 May 2026 after police launched a manhunt for him.
All four spent the weekend in custody after the bail application was postponed on Friday. Sibanyoni used his time behind bars to preach to fellow detainees, telling media from inside the courtroom that he was a man of God and that the case did not bother him. The four accused had now spent six days in custody only for the case to be struck off the roll because the State failed to send anyone to court.
What Striking Off the Roll Means
It is important to note that striking a case off the roll does not mean the accused have been acquitted or that the charges have been dropped. It means the matter has been removed from the court’s active roll due to the State’s failure to proceed. The NPA retains the ability to reinstate the matter and refile charges against the accused. However the circumstances under which the case was struck, a direct defiance of a court order by the prosecution will complicate any attempt to revive proceedings and will give the defence significant ammunition to argue that the State has not acted in good faith.
The NPA had not issued a public statement on the matter at the time of publication.
Questions That Demand Answers
The collapse of the case raises serious and uncomfortable questions about the National Prosecuting Authority’s handling of a matter it had publicly described as strong just days earlier. On the same Friday that the magistrate issued her warning to the prosecutor, the NPA had confirmed it was opposing bail and was confident it had a strong case against all four accused.
How does a prosecutor who has been directly warned by a magistrate in open court and in terms that attracted national media coverage, simply not appear the following Monday? Who authorised or failed to prevent that non-appearance? And why did neither the prosecutor nor the investigating officer make any communication to the court before the 9am deadline that had been specifically ordered?
Sibanyoni’s legal representative Advocate Shaun Abrahams had accused the NPA of playing games with the defence throughout the week, citing ignored phone calls, a switched-off investigating officer’s phone and a Director of Public Prosecutions who failed to respond to communications. The events of Monday morning will do nothing to counter that characterisation.
Who Are the Four Accused
Joe Ferrari Sibanyoni is one of Mpumalanga’s most prominent taxi industry figures. Court papers revealed that he owns a fleet of more than 80 taxis, a collection of classic cars including Ferraris, several properties across Tshwane and brings home approximately R2 million per month. He has three wives and more than 14 children. He has previously been linked to alleged crime boss Vusimuzi Cat Matlala who is currently in plea negotiations with IDAC through testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. The current extortion case was not related to the commission’s work.
Bafana Sindane, known as the King of Sky, is a multi-millionaire Pretoria-based taxi boss whose viral video showing him dancing with bundles of cash balanced on his head had already made him a social media figure before his arrest. Mvimbi Daniel Masilela and Philemon Msiza were arrested alongside Sibanyoni on Tuesday 12 May 2026.
The four were accused of extorting more than R2 million in protection fees from a Mpumalanga mining businessman between 2022 and 2025. That complainant now faces the prospect of having to go through the entire process again if the NPA chooses to reinstate the matter.
Editors Note Striking a case off the roll does not constitute an acquittal. Joe Ferrari Sibanyoni, Bafana Sindane, Mvimbi Daniel Masilela and Philemon Msiza are presumed innocent of any wrongdoing unless proven otherwise in a court of law. The NPA retains the ability to reinstate charges. Mzansi Today Live will update this article as further information becomes available.