Madlanga Commission sick ward widens after taxi boss Bafana Sindane calls in sick at the 11th hour - IOL

The empty chair which taxi boss Bafana Sindane would have sat in to testify at the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday. He has called in sick.

Taxi boss Bafana “King of the Sky” Sindane has called in sick at the Madlanga Commission, just hours before he was due to testify, delaying his scheduled appearance on Wednesday.

Sindane’s legal team told the commission it had received a medical certificate, prompting a request to postpone his testimony.

“We have received the medical certificate on Wednesday,” Advocate Menzi Simelane told the commission.

The development comes as Sindane launches an urgent legal challenge in the High Court in Pretoria to stop the commission from using material seized from his cellphone and to suspend a subpoena compelling him to testify.

Sindane filed the application on Tuesday night, seeking to prevent the commission from accessing his WhatsApp messages pending a review of the subpoena and related evidence.

The messages, exchanged between Sindane and taxi industry figure Joe Sibanyoni, came under scrutiny during Sibanyoni’s appearance on Monday.

Some of the exchanges included discussions concerning hitmen.

Sindane is an associate of Sibanyoni and has been linked to a Kwaggafontein extortion and money-laundering case.

Simelane said Sindane sought a postponement on two grounds: his medical condition and his request to testify only after his urgent application is heard in court on October 6.

Evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson, however, told the commission he wanted the chats between Sindane and Sibanyoni placed in the public domain.

Arguments over the postponement and the evidence are continuing.

In the past, figures including dismissed SAPS general Feroz Khan, Medicare24 CEO Mike van Wyk and North West businessman Suliman Carrim have also called in sick at the Madlanga Commission.