Mpumalanga taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni, along with his three co-accused Bafana Sindane, Mvimbi Masilela and Philemon Msiza, have been released on bail of R70,000 each after the state chose not to oppose their bail applications.

The group handed themselves over to police at the Delmas police station on Thursday, following the issuance of arrest warrants linked to an ongoing extortion investigation.The accused are facing allegations that they extorted R2 million from businessman Thomas Ntuli between 2022 and 2025.According to the charges, the money was allegedly demanded as a protection fee to allow Ntuli to operate his mining activities in Kwaggafontein.All four accused have denied the allegations against them.

During the bail proceedings, defence counsel Shaun Abrahams SC argued that the arrest warrants were unlawful and unconstitutional, claiming they constituted an abuse of process.

He further stated that proper procedures under section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Act were not followed, and indicated that the defence intended to challenge the matter in the High Court.

In parallel, Sibanyoni and Sindane had already filed an urgent interdict application at the Mbombela High Court seeking to prevent the execution of the warrants and to stop the National Prosecuting Authority from re-enrolling the case.

Their legal argument also questioned jurisdiction, claiming the alleged offences occurred in Kwaggafontein within the Thembisile Hani sub-district, and not in Delmas, meaning the Delmas magistrate lacked authority to issue the warrants.The matter has now been postponed to September as legal processes continue.