Overview
- Sibanyoni was arrested in Pretoria by specialised police units and appeared in the Kwaggafontein Magistrates’ Court, where prosecutors said they would oppose his release on bail.
- Prosecutors allege he and two co-accused forced a Mpumalanga mining businessman to pay more than R2.2 million in so‑called protection fees between 2022 and 2025.
- The NPA says the payments went into accounts linked to the accused and were then moved through multiple accounts in an alleged money‑laundering scheme.
- The court postponed the case to allow the State to proceed before a new presiding officer under charges classified as serious Schedule 5 offences.
- Defense lawyer Shaun Abrahams said the team was ready to argue bail and accused the State of stonewalling, while Sibanyoni denied wrongdoing and cast himself as a man of faith; separate commission testimony about organised‑crime links remains untested in court.