President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a proclamation on Friday 12 September 2026 authorising the SIU to investigate R168 million in North West transport tenders awarded to a joint venture linked to businessman Suliman Carrim and the late taxi boss Jotham Msibi. Image: Frennie Shivambu / Gallo Images
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a proclamation on Friday 12 September 2026 authorising the SIU to probe R168 million in North West transport tenders. The Ramaphosa SIU Carrim Msibi probe targets a joint venture between Carrim’s Transnat Coach Lines and Ziggy Investments. The North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management awarded the contract to that joint venture. Furthermore, the SIU will scrutinise financial flows between the joint venture and the late taxi boss Jotham “King Mswazi” Msibi. Msibi died in January 2024. As a result, one of the most controversial figures in the Madlanga Commission’s proceedings now faces a formal SIU investigation.
The probe adds serious legal problems for Carrim. He already faces criminal charges from the Madlanga Commission after repeatedly failing to appear and refusing an independent medical assessment. The commission questioned him about alleged links to Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. It also questioned him about allegedly undisclosed payments exceeding R2 million to a company connected to Matlala. Whistleblower information and CCTV footage appeared to show Carrim shopping and dining in Cape Town despite his illness claims. Furthermore, the transport tenders the SIU will investigate were exactly what the commission wanted to question him about. As a result, Carrim now faces two parallel legal threats at the same time.
WhatsApp logs showed Msibi forwarding specific business details of the joint venture to Makhosini Msibi, the CEO of the Road Traffic Management Corporation. Jotham Msibi chaired SANTACO’s Ekurhuleni region. Investigators once described him as being at the centre of South Africa’s underworld. His links to the joint venture and his communication with the RTMC CEO form part of what the SIU will examine. Furthermore, Carrim has been financially linked to Cat Matlala. Matlala stands trial in the Johannesburg High Court on 25 charges including 11 counts of attempted murder. As a result, the SIU must untangle a web connecting some of the most significant figures in South African organised crime and corruption investigations.
The proclamation also covers North West Transport Investment, the entity that awarded the tenders. NTI applied for voluntary business rescue in July 2022 after facing financial difficulties. A Gauteng High Court ruling removed the original business rescue practitioner Hendrick Samons. Mahomed Mahier Tayob now serves as the new practitioner. Furthermore, the SIU will examine NTI’s tender processes, procurement decisions and financial flows. As a result, the proclamation gives the SIU a broad mandate to follow the money in all directions.
Freddy Sonakile, chair of the North West portfolio committee on community safety and transport management, welcomed the probe. “We will continue exercising rigorous oversight until there is accountability, consequence management and every possible effort is made to recover public funds lost through wrongdoing,” Sonakile said. Furthermore, the SIU’s findings will determine whether the state pursues asset recovery or forfeiture. As a result, the probe could produce significant financial recoveries if irregular money flows are confirmed.
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