Joe Sibanyoni allegedly threatens Cyril Ramaphosa and Gwede Mantashe over a 30% Putco stake

Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni has come under renewed scrutiny after a resurfaced video brought fresh attention to his previous engagement with President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe over a proposed 30% stake in Putco Bus Services.

In the video, Sibanyoni is seen raising the issue of the proposed stake directly with Ramaphosa. He reportedly told the president that they were encountering “red tape” and appealed for government intervention to help resolve the matter.

During the exchange, Sibanyoni also said that if the government did not assist them, they would “fight for ourselves”. The remark has since attracted considerable attention online, with some viewers interpreting it as a warning directed at Ramaphosa and Mantashe.

However, the available footage does not establish what Sibanyoni meant by the statement or whether it was intended as a threat. The phrase could potentially have referred to pursuing legal remedies, continuing negotiations, lodging complaints, protesting or taking another course of action. The recording itself does not provide enough context to determine his precise intention.

There is also uncertainty surrounding when and where the video was recorded. The resurfaced material does not clearly establish the circumstances of the meeting or the events that led to the discussion about the proposed 30% stake. Those details could be important in understanding the significance of Sibanyoni’s comments.

The video has resurfaced at a particularly significant time, as Sibanyoni appears before the Madlanga Commission, where his involvement in matters connected to Putco has attracted scrutiny. He has denied wrongdoing and maintained that his involvement was linked to accountability and the implementation of remedial measures concerning the bus company’s contract.

The resurfaced footage could therefore prompt further questions about the history of the Putco dispute and Sibanyoni’s interactions with senior government officials. Whether the commission examines the recording or asks Sibanyoni to explain what he meant by “fight for ourselves” remains to be seen.

For now, describing the remark as an explicit threat remains an interpretation of the footage rather than an established fact about Sibanyoni’s intentions.

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