The Alexandra Magistrate’s Court heard the state’s case linking Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala and his co-accused to the attempted murder of prominent taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni, known as ‘Joe Ferrari’, on Monday, but Matlala dismissed the allegations as malicious and false.

According to the state’s draft indictment, on the night of the incident, on August 10, 2022, at the Centurion Golf and Country Club estate, Sibanyoni and his two friends were standing outside the estate’s entrance when a white BMW drove past. An occupant of the vehicle opened fire, sparking a shootout with a security guard at the gate. Sibanyoni was wounded.

Read more: Cat pleads not guilty to botched assassination

In a bid to link Matlala to the incident, the state alleged that at the time of the shooting, there was animosity between Sibanyoni and the late taxi industry figure Jotham Zanemvula Msibi, who Matlala was allegedly providing protections services to through his company, CAT Protection and Security.

The prosecutor further alleged that on the night of the shooting, Matlala allegedly contacted his former girlfriend, only referred to as Ms Papu, asking her to store the white BMW in her garage. “That BMW was delivered to Ms Papu’s premises later that night, by two gentlemen, and collected the following day. The white BMW was traced and seized by the police.”

Additionally, the prosecutor said that the vehicle was registered to Nthabiseng Nzama, the daughter of Floyd Mabusela, one of the alleged hitmen, but had reportedly been sold to a friend of Mabusela. She further revealed that an assault rifle, ballistically matched to the Sibanyoni shooting, was recovered on April 17, 2024, inside a stolen vehicle at the premises of Musa Kekana, another alleged hitman. His fingerprints were allegedly found on the vehicle, but not on the weapon.

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While biometric and ballistic evidence ties Kekana to the incident, the state acknowledged that its case against Matlala relies on circumstantial evidence. The prosecutor admitted that the state does not have ballistic or DNA evidence implicating Matlala.

In his bail application for the attempted assassination of Tebogo Thobejane on September 2, Matlala rejected the allegations as baseless and dangerous. “I have not in the past enjoyed personal interactions with [Sibanyoni],” he stated.

Matlala argued that he would have been better served by offering Sibanyoni protection services, rather than orchestrating the alleged attack. “These allegations are not only malicious, scandalous, and false; they are also placing my life in serious danger.” Matlala further criticised the state’s case as an attempt to pin the crime on him, rather than pursue the actual culprits, calling the allegations reckless, divisive, and sensationalised.

Final arguments in Matlala’s bail bid were heard on Monday, with the court postponing its judgment to September 17.

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