Taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni appearing before the Kwaggafontein Magistrate’s Court, alongside two of his three co-accused, Mvimbi Daniel Masilela and Philemon Msiza, to face charges of extortion and money laundering.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is expected to table its draft policy on the protection of prosecutors next month, following several murders of State advocates and the bizarre incident of Mpumalanga prosecutor Mkhuseli Ntaba not appearing in court.
Ntaba was expected at the Kwaggafontein Magistrate’s Court in the R2.2 million extortion and money laundering case against taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni and his three co-accused, but did not pitch up and later told his bosses at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) that he feared for his safety despite his employers having provided him with security.
It has now emerged that the issue of protection of prosecutors has been before the departmental bargaining chamber, where the department and recognised trade unions deliberate on labour-related issues.
The Public Servants Association (PSA) this week informed its members at a special bargaining chamber meeting that the matter was tabled after the murder of regional court prosecutor Tracy Brown in July last year.
Brown, who was stationed at the New Brighton Magistrate’s Court in Gqeberha, was shot and killed outside her home in the city’s Young Park on July 31, 2025.
The PSA reported to its members that the department indicated that it is finalising the draft policy and will table it for consultation as soon as it is done with internal processes to improve the safety of prosecutors.
“The PSA raised displeasure as the draft policy ought to have been tabled by the employer before the end of last year. The employer committed to sending the draft policy to organised labour before the end of June 2026,” the union stated.
NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said Ntaba was suspended and the matter is now being investigated.
“The people who are investigating have promised to give us an outcome by this weekend. Therefore, early in the next week, we will know what is going on.”
Kganyago added that Ntaba was safe and had been in contact with the NPA and cooperating with the investigation.
“We have talked to him, and he has clearly indicated to us that he felt threatened. Those are some of the things we are looking at because we need to understand from him, but also all roleplayers in the whole process who did or did not do what,” he said.
Kganyago said the NPA could not indicate who threatened Ntaba until the investigation is finalised.
“Even during the course of the court cases, we had given him protection throughout, but he still felt threatened; therefore, we need to get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister Andries Nel said the department works very closely with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to provide security to judicial officers.
The SAPS is responsible for conducting threat assessments, and the department does provide private security in certain instances to safeguard judicial officers who are under threat.
In a similar vein, according to Nel, the department relied on the SAPS to do threat assessments for prosecutors and, where necessary, to assist in providing security.
“We have had several cases where prosecutors have been killed,” he said. Besides the July 2025 murder of Brown, another regional court prosecutor, Elona Sombulula, was shot and killed in April last year in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape.”
In August 2024, a prosecutor and a stenographer based at the Mamelodi Magistrate’s Court in Tshwane were attacked by a suspect convicted of robbery and damage to property with a broken bottle immediately after the verdict was handed down.
Addelaid Ann Ferreira-Watt, senior prosecutor at the Umzimkhulu Magistrate's Court in KwaZulu-Natal, was shot and killed when a loaded firearm submitted as evidence was accidentally discharged by a police officer.
Nel said Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has also appealed to the media to be cautious when broadcasting court proceedings.
“The minister has also made an appeal to the media to be judicious in how they televise court proceedings, and as far as possible, to avoid focusing on judicial officers and prosecutors,” he said.
According to Nel, the department, together with Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia, has also intervened in several violent hotspots, in particular in the Western Cape, where there have been shootings outside court precincts.
He said they were working to increase visible policing and also bring mobile stations to some of the courts to make sure that they can be sanctuaries where people feel safe to seek justice.
On Friday, the NPA announced that it had filed an application for leave to appeal against the orders granted by Mpumalanga chief magistrate Tuletu Tonjeni in the matter involving Sibanyoni and his co-accused, Mvimbi Masilela, Philemon Msiza, and Bafana Sindane.
The NPA wants to overturn Ntaba’s conviction for contempt of court and the order authorising a warrant of arrest against him.
In addition to its notice for leave to appeal, the NPA has also filed a formal request for written reasons for Tonjeni’s orders, with a view to supplementing the grounds upon which the leave to appeal is based, if necessary.
A team led by a reputable senior counsel will provide a legally sound advice on the approach to be adopted in respect of the order granted in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, which struck the criminal case off the court roll, according to the NPA.
Kganyago said the prosecution team was looking at re-enrolling the criminal matter in court, while the SAPS’s Mpumalanga Organised Crime Unit maintained that it still has a strong case despite this week’s developments, and that strong evidence against the suspects remains intact.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za