Taxi tycoon Joe Sibanyoni has been arrested. The arrest was confirmed by Mpumalanga police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo, saying that Sibanyoni was nabbed on Tuesday evening and was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
Masondo revealed that Sibanyoni was arrested in connection with a case of extortion that was opened by a mining boss in Mpumalanga. “There is a case of extortion that was opened in November 2025. Our members from organised crime have been investigating that case, which involved four suspects,” said Masondo.
Masondo said there were four suspects implicated in the alleged. “He (Sibanyoni) is one of the four suspects. The investigations were completed and the suspects were arrested in the early hours of this (Tuesday) morning. Two of them were arrested in Gauteng, including this prominent businessman. They were (allegedly) extorting money from a businessman who is in the mining industry in Kwaggafontein,” said Masondo.
The name of the iinfluential taxi boss has repeatedly surfaced during the Madlanga Commission and parliamentary ad hoc committee hearings into alleged organised crime networks — has been arrested in connection with an extortion case.
According to one of the most scrutinised testimonies at the Madlanga Commission recently, Sergeant Fannie Nkosi conceded under pressure that he had visited Sibanyoni’s house 12 times between March 2024 and September 2025.
Nkosi was grilled after initially suggesting he had only met the taxi figure once or twice, before evidence leader advocate Matthew Chaskalson confronted him with WhatsApp evidence indicating repeated contact.
“Why would you have told us yesterday that it was one or two times?” Chaskalson asked during the hearing.
Nkosi denied saying that.
“I did not say it was one or two. I said I can’t remember exactly how many times,” Nkosi responded, before conceding it was 12 meetings.
The exchange became one of the defining moments of the commission, highlighting the level of access allegedly enjoyed by Sibanyoni, with senior police officers repeatedly visiting his residence.
The commission further heard that Nkosi sent suspended City of Tshwane chief financial officer Gareth Mnisi a link to the launch of the Joe Sibanyoni Foundation, connecting Sibanyoni’s social initiatives to influential figures inside the capital city administration.
Sibanyoni was reportedly arrested by members of the Special Task Force in Pretoria on Tuesday before being transported to Mpumalanga, where he is expected to face allegations linked to extortion.
The 60-year-old businessman has increasingly become a central figure in testimony linked to the alleged “Big Five” cartel — a network accused during commission proceedings of operating across extortion, taxi violence, tender fraud and contract killings.
Sibanyoni’s growing notoriety intensified after he survived an attempted assassination outside Centurion Golf Estate in August 2022.
Subsequent investigations linked a white BMW 335i to suspects allegedly associated with businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, another controversial figure whose name has loomed large over the commission hearings.
The Madlanga Commission was established after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that organised crime syndicates had infiltrated parts of law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
During testimony, witnesses and investigators painted a picture of overlapping relationships between taxi bosses, politicians, police officers and alleged criminal syndicates.
The commission has heard allegations linking the so-called “Big Five” network to extortion, hijackings, drug trafficking and politically connected organised crime operations.
Sibanyoni has not been convicted of any offence arising from the commission testimony, and many of the allegations remain untested in court.
This story has been updated.
- Taxi tycoon Joe Sibanyoni has been arrested in Mpumalanga.
- The reasons for his arrest have not yet been disclosed.
- Authorities have not provided further details at this time.
- The situation is ongoing and under investigation.
- More updates are expected as the story develops.
