Ramaphosa Sends a North West Transport Tender to the SIU
SOUTH AFRICA · GOVERNANCE
Key Facts
- —What Ramaphosa signed President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a proclamation on Friday 11 September 2026 directing the Special Investigating Unit to investigate.
- —What the SIU will investigate An R168 million (about US$10.4 million) North West transport tender, related financial flows, and the business rescue of North West Transport Investments.
- —Who won the tender A joint venture between Transnat Coach Lines and Suliman Carrim’s Ziggy Investments.
- —Why now Evidence at the Madlanga Commission about flows between that joint venture and the late taxi figure Jotham Msibi.
- —What this investigation can and cannot decide A proclamation authorises an investigation. It makes no finding against anyone named.
- —What Carrim says Carrim denies acting as an enabler and says he lost money on the investments at issue.
An investigation has been authorised into one provincial tender and one business rescue. Nothing in it has been decided, and the man at its centre has been answering in public for months.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the Special Investigating Unit to examine transport tenders awarded by the North West provincial government to entities linked to the businessman Suliman Carrim. The mandate also covers the business rescue of a state-owned bus operator.
What the Proclamation Covers
The proclamation, signed on Friday 11 September 2026, directs the Special Investigating Unit to investigate an R168 million tender, about US$10.4 million, awarded by the North West department of community safety and transport management. The tender went to a joint venture between Transnat Coach Lines and Ziggy Investments, a company of which Carrim is a director.
It also covers the financial flows between that joint venture and the late taxi industry figure Jotham Msibi. The proclamation separately covers the conduct of the business rescue of North West Transport Investments, a state-owned operator that entered voluntary business rescue in July 2022.
Business Day and TimesLive reported the signature, though the proclamation’s official Gazette number has not been independently verified.
What the Commission Heard
Evidence led by the commission’s evidence leader, advocate Matthew Chaskalson, included a payment of R700,000, about US$43,300, from Transnat Coach Lines to the South African National Taxi Council. R300,000 of that was recorded as outstanding arrears.
It also included R1 million, about US$61,800, recorded as €46,256.98 and paid to Tucofin, a company in which Msibi was a director.
Msibi died on 7 January 2024. He was a co-founder of the taxi council and one of the industry’s most powerful figures. Evidence led in August 2026, much of it drawn from his phone, described him as a former leader of an alleged syndicate. It also linked him to an Ekurhuleni tender. None of it was tested against him in his lifetime, and he was never convicted of any offence.
Where Carrim Sits in the Police Contract
The R360 million police health-services contract, about US$22.3 million, is at the centre of the commission’s wider work. It was awarded to Medicare24, a company linked to the businessman Vusimuzi Matlala. About R228 million was paid before it was cancelled over supply-chain irregularities.
Carrim’s role, as put to him, was that of a funder. He testified on 9 March 2026 that he had advanced R10 million to Matlala in June 2024, about US$549,000 at the rate then prevailing. He said the terms called for Matlala to repay R20 million over three years, but that only R2.5 million was repaid before the contract was cancelled. He said he felt both Matlala and the businessman Brown Mogotsi were playing him.
He has denied allegations that he acted as an enabler between the police ministry and Matlala. He has also denied that he influenced senior police officers to assist Matlala’s company with payments. He has said in court papers that he lost money after investing in Matlala’s business. He has also said that a R1.5 million payment he received was repayment on a R10 million investment in Medicare24, and that there was nothing untoward about it.
The Court Fight
Carrim went to court to block the commission. In Carrim v Madlanga, Judge Fisher in the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, struck Part A of his application off the roll with costs on 5 February 2026. The order included the costs of two counsel and left the subpoena standing.
He had sought to interdict the commission from requiring a written statement or compelling his appearance. He also asked to have witnesses recalled for cross-examination before he testified. The court made no finding about his conduct.
He subsequently failed to appear on several occasions, citing ill health. On 14 August 2026 the commission resolved to direct its secretary to lay criminal charges. The move addressed a possible breach of the Commissions Act. His counsel, Kameel Premhid, called the referral unnecessarily punitive and said less intrusive means were available.
What the Investigation Can and Cannot Decide
A proclamation under the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act authorises an investigation; it is not a charge, a finding, or a conclusion about anyone named in it, including Carrim. The unit’s powers are civil: where it finds that public money was improperly spent, it refers the matter to the Special Tribunal for recovery, and it hands any criminal aspect to the prosecuting authority, which decides independently whether to bring charges.
The Separate Claim About Spy Equipment
The commission has also heard evidence, on 18 August 2026, that sits outside that mandate. Msibi, a detained police sergeant and others discussed selling cellphone-interception equipment sourced from a Czech supplier to eSwatini and to private parties, rather than to the police. That testimony does not involve Carrim and forms no part of what the SIU has been asked to investigate.
None of the people named in this article has been convicted of any offence arising from these allegations, and the evidence heard by the commission has not yet been tested.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What did Ramaphosa sign?
A proclamation on 11 September 2026 directing the Special Investigating Unit to investigate North West transport tenders and a related business rescue.
What is the scope?
An R168 million (about US$10.4 million) tender to a Transnat Coach Lines and Ziggy Investments joint venture, the flows between it and Jotham Msibi, and the business rescue of North West Transport Investments.
Is this a finding against anyone?
No. A proclamation authorises an investigation. It makes no finding and brings no charge.
What does Carrim say?
He denies acting as an enabler between the police ministry and Vusimuzi Matlala, and says he lost money after investing in Matlala’s business.
Who was Jotham Msibi?
A co-founder of the South African National Taxi Council and a leading figure in the industry. He died on 7 January 2024 and was never convicted of any offence.
Sources: Business Day, TimesLive, Sunday Times, SAFLII, Madlanga Commission evidence.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief