Mumalanga EFF leader Collen Sedibe is at the centre of a court dispute in Nelspruit, where he faces allegations of threatening a local businessman. Sedibe, however, maintains that his WhatsApp messages were intended as a caution, not a threat. In his original complaint filed with the court in February, the businessman, Sifiso Magonyane, alleged that Sedibe sent him threatening messages.
“Collen Sedibe sent me WhatsApp messages threatening that he will ‘show me’ on Wednesday, 05/02/2025. He further informed me that they are watching me and every movement I make,” he stated. “The next Thursday, they sent another WhatsApp message and said I will die. I do not know this guy [the sender]. I am now fearing for my life.”
The matter was then set for trial
This Wednesday it had to be postponed without being heard after Sedibe’s legal team filed their answering affidavit late, prompting Magonyane to file a replying affidavit on the same day.
The case will now go to trial on July 11. The court papers, which Sunday World has seen, now form the centrepiece of what promises to be a politically charged hearing. They show that Sedibe accuses Magonyane, of being involved in a murder plot. In his affidavit, Sedibe claims he was alerted earlier this year by a whistleblower who alleged that Magonyane had orchestrated a plan to kill a businessman named Ben Nkambule and that the complainant tried to involve others in the alleged conspiracy.
Threatening messages
“On or about February 2025, I received sensitive information from a whistleblower to the effect that Mr Sifiso Magonyane had orchestrated a plan to kill a known businessman by the name of Ben Nkambule,” Sedibe stated.
Instead of reporting the alleged threat to the police, Sedibe contacted Magonyane directly, sending WhatsApp messages that are now the subject of the protection order. “We know all your plans, and you and your corrupt MEC mother will not succeed. We know that you bought people to kill Ben; it must happen, small boy. We will show you wonders…” he wrote. Sedibe insists these words were a warning, not a death threat.
“I was alerting him of the information at our disposal and warning him to refrain from such conduct,” he claimed. “Basically, I was telling him that he cannot kill Ben and get away with it.”
Magonyane, however, paints a very different picture. In his replying affidavit, he denies knowing anyone by the name of Ben Nkambule and accuses Sedibe of engaging in acts of harassment and intimidation that resulted in him obtaining an interim protection order.
He said Sedibe should never have taken the law into his own hands. “If, indeed, the respondent had received any such crucial and sensitive information, he should and would have referred such information to the relevant authorities to investigate and take appropriate action.”
Magonyane also challenged the very foundation of Sedibe’s claims, pointing out that there is no evidence of any murder plot, let alone his involvement.
“It is very disheartening to note that the respondent has, to date, not produced any evidence of the false allegations he has levelled against the applicant.”
“I fear for my life”
Magonyane says the situation has caused him serious fear for his life and that he has since been forced to hire a private security detail to protect himself and his family at what he describes as a “huge cost”.
He argues that Sedibe’s actions amount to vigilantism: “The respondent has no moral, legal and/or any other form of authority to tell the applicant that ‘you will die first’.”
Magonyane is asking the court to make the interim protection order permanent, saying Sedibe’s affidavit confirms an ongoing intent to harass him under the guise of exposing corruption. “The persistent and unfounded belief by the respondent that the applicant is indulging in criminal activities… is a clear indication that the respondent has no intention of desisting.” As the political dust settles before trial, the only certainty is that on July 11, the court will not just hear affidavits, but read between the lines of ambition, accusation and a most unusual warning.
