Taxi boss Sindane fights Madlanga commission subpoena with medical plea and court bid

Mpumalanga taxi boss Oupa Bafana Sindane’s legal team has submitted a medical certificate to the Madlanga commission in a bid to delay his testimony. Sindane, also known as the “King of the Sky”, was expected to testify before the commission on Wednesday, 23 September 2026. Court application However, Sindane’s legal team filed an urgent High Court application seeking to block the commission from compelling him to appear. Sindane also seeks to block the Madlanga commission from using his WhatsApp messages. The matter is set down for hearing on 6 October 2026, where judges will decide whether the subpoena stands despite his health claims. Reputational damage to Sindane Advocate Thabane Masuku, representing Sindane, says the Madlanga commission should not read Sindane’s statement into evidence because of the risk of reputational damage. Masuku said Sindane’s poor health will affect his ability to follow proceedings and cautioned the commission against presenting evidence in Sindane’s absence, despite his medical certificate. “If this evidence is filed while Mr Sindane lies in bed nursing himself, he has no filter to balance its disclosure against his constitutional rights,” Masuku said. Evidence He stressed that even if Sindane tried to follow proceedings online, “he is in no position to influence how the evidence is presented”. Masuku warned that broadcasting testimony without his client present risks “unreliable evidence being flighted, permanent public disclosure, reputational and dignity harm, and even an appearance of guilt before any criminal trial begins”. He argued the commission should wait until Sindane is fit to participate fully, insisting, “the evidence can be heard later, when he is able to give the commission his full attention and respond to its requirements”. ‘Spiritual seclusion’ Chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga said the commission cannot take Sindane’s claim of spiritual seclusion seriously, as Sindane himself did not include it in his founding affidavit. “Even if we take cognisance of it, I doubt we can take it seriously,” Madlanga remarked, stressing that Sindane himself had not considered it important enough to include as a primary reason for postponement. Masuku countered that lawyers often choose which matters to emphasise or downplay, and in this case, spirituality was deliberately left out to avoid public intrigue. “We would rather not have media houses digging around to see who Mr Sindane is dancing with or which pot he is poking,” he said, underscoring the risk of reputational harm if such evidence were flighted unnecessarily. Sindane’s testimony was expected to focus on alleged networks and connections within the taxi industry and would have followed that of his associate and fellow taxi boss, Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni. Extortion Sindane and Sibanyoni are also co-accused in an extortion and money-laundering case. The state alleges that between 2022 and 2025, Sibanyoni, Sindane, Mvimbi Daniel Masilela and Philemon Msiza forced a businessman operating in the Nkangala district to hand over more than R2.2 million in so-called “protection fees”. According to the allegations, the businessman was threatened with having his operations shut down if he failed to pay. Sindane also faces money-laundering charges allegedly connected to the proceeds.