Sibanyoni’s 2024 PUTCO warning resurfaces at Madlanga Commission after 2025 depot attacks

Footage played at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has revived a 2024 warning by taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni in which he told President Cyril Ramaphosa that local groups wanted a 30% operational stake in PUTCO and would take action if their demands were not met.

What the footage showed

The video, shown at the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday, captures Sibanyoni speaking at an ANC campaign event in KwaNdebele in 2024 where President Ramaphosa and ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe were present. In the footage Sibanyoni said:

“We want to play a role. We are busy engaging with Putco,”

and pointed to the company’s long presence in the area.

Sibanyoni warned that when people sought to interfere with PUTCO’s business,

“you must know it’s us.”

He said a 30% share belonged to the people of KwaNdebele and added:

“If they don’t follow that, we will fight for ourselves.”

Link to the January 2025 depot attacks

Those remarks were placed under renewed scrutiny after attacks on PUTCO in January 2025. On 27 January 2025, armed men allegedly stormed four PUTCO depots Moloto, Wolwekraal, Siyabuswa and Vaalbank where security personnel were reportedly tied up and employees assaulted. According to evidence shown at the commission, one worker was shot in the leg before attackers used flammable liquids to set buses alight.

Sibanyoni’s response at the commission

Asked by evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC about the apparent link between his 2024 warning and the January 2025 violence, Sibanyoni denied involvement. He told the commission:

“It was not me, let’s not personalise this.”

Sibanyoni said his exchanges with Ramaphosa and Mantashe concerned legitimate community matters, stating:

“My interaction with the president and a Cabinet minister was conducted in relation to legitimate public and community matters of which I had firsthand knowledge.”

What remains clear from the record

• Footage from a 2024 ANC event captures Sibanyoni warning that local groups sought a 30% operational stake in PUTCO and would act if ignored.
• The 27 January 2025 attacks targeted four PUTCO depots, with reported assaults on personnel and one worker shot in the leg.
• At the Madlanga Commission Sibanyoni denied personal involvement and described his engagement with national leaders as relating to legitimate public and community issues.