Ramaphosa Sends a North West Transport Tender to the SIU
SOUTH AFRICA · GOVERNANCE
Key Facts
- —The instrument President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a proclamation on Friday 11 September 2026 directing the Special Investigating Unit to investigate.
- —The scope An R168 million (about US$10.4 million) North West transport tender, related financial flows, and the business rescue of North West Transport Investments.
- —The parties A joint venture between Transnat Coach Lines and Suliman Carrim’s Ziggy Investments.
- —The trigger Evidence at the Madlanga Commission about flows between that joint venture and the late taxi figure Jotham Msibi.
- —What it is not A proclamation authorises an investigation. It makes no finding against anyone named.
- —The response 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, and 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 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, and the conduct of the business rescue of North West Transport Investments, a state-owned operator that entered voluntary business rescue in July 2022.
The Rio Times has not confirmed the proclamation number against the Government Gazette and does not state one. The fact of signature is reported by Business Day and TimesLive.
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, with R300,000 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 and 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 at the centre of the commission’s wider work, about US$22.3 million, 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, on terms that Matlala would repay R20 million over three years, and 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, or 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 and 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, including the costs of two counsel, leaving the subpoena standing.
He had sought to interdict the commission from requiring a written statement or compelling his appearance, and 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 for a possible breach of the Commissions Act. His counsel, Kameel Premhid, called the referral unnecessarily punitive and said less intrusive means were available.
What a Proclamation Is
A proclamation under the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act authorises an investigation into specified matters. It is not a charge, not a finding and not a conclusion about any person or company named in it.
The unit’s powers are civil. Where it finds that public money was improperly spent it refers matters to the Special Tribunal for recovery, and refers any criminal aspects to the prosecuting authority, which decides independently whether to charge.
What Is Not in the Proclamation
The commission separately heard, on 18 August 2026, that Msibi, a detained police sergeant and others discussed selling cellphone-interception equipment sourced from a Czech supplier to eSwatini and to private buyers rather than to the police.
That evidence does not form part of the matters the unit has been authorised to investigate, and it does not involve Carrim.
None of the individuals named in this article has been convicted of any offence arising from these allegations, and the evidence led before the commission is untested.
More: Africa news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
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.
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