NPA Prosecutor told he would be 'eliminated' if he attended Kwaggafontein case: Kaizer Kganyago

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]that the National Prosecuting Authority confirming that it has applied for leave to appeal the contempt of court uh order and warrant of arrest issued against the prosecutor Muselin Daba. The legal action stems from the high-profile extortion and money laundering case of taxi boss Joe Ferrari and his co-acused during the bail application in the Guaca Fantain magistrate's court in Pumalang Daba failed to appear prompting the chief magistrate there to hold him in contempt and striking the case off the role and issuing a warrant for his arrest. for more on this. Now let's chat about this particular appeal uh to the NPA's spokesperson Kaiser Kanyahu. Mr. Kyako, thank you very much indeed for making time for us this morning. Now, you've already been on record saying uh there are parts that you are appealing and specifically relating to the conviction of the prosecutor in absentia and the warrant of arrest. It seems you are now much clearer in terms of the details of why he did not pitch. You said yesterday to my colleagues in our earlier programs that he feared for his life. Who does he allege threatened him?

[00:01:13]Thank you very much and thank you to your viewers. Uh obviously that part is being still being investigated because we need to understand uh the people that talked to him and then all the people that were warned him about what was about to happen on that particular day.

[00:01:31]But all we know for now while investigation internal investigation is going on is the fact that um he he was told that he will be eliminated if he goes to the court on that day.

[00:01:45]>> That was my next question. Mr. Kanyahu eliminated eliminated. In other words, he will be killed. Do we know uh anything more about the extent of further threats that were made to him if at all?

[00:01:57]>> Not at the moment. We our investigation is said indicated that we will get the report maybe early in the week to understand all the details because it's not only what he says that is going to be looked at is also all the people that are involved in those in the whole process.

[00:02:14]>> It does however see Mr. there seems to be an an about turn uh uh by the national prosecuting authority because um in the earlier statement there was an earlier statement uh by the NPA that had been issued and uh basically what you had said at the time was that um you know there were charges or there was some um disciplinary action that was going to be taken against the prosecutor. That statement indicated so, but this latest statement now indicates you're going to appeal this decision that was taken by the magistrate. Was this an error on your part as the NPA or the fact that you did not have sufficient information at the time that you had issued that first press release?

[00:02:58]>> No, it wasn't an error. It was a cryelder because what we did we were reacting on the information before us at the time and we were not able to get hold of the prosecutor at the time. We didn't know what was going on and therefore the best thing at the time was to then suspend him pending an investigation which we have done and we are in the process of doing. Therefore there's no change of heart. H we wanted to say to to react immediately to what was happening at the time and therefore we then had to look at all the facts before us and then that is how we then got to say okay with the facts that we are now having and the fact that we feel that the magistrate might have had in in making those decisions. We will then do this because we also have to protect the prosecutor >> while we are investigating because the suspension was a precautionary one just to make sure that we uh investigate but also take him out of this space such that he is not involved in this thing until we are done with this investigation.

[00:04:04]>> Yeah. And what support I think uh you know Mr. Kanye planning to give this prosecutor because clearly there seems to be some sort of safety concern not just with him that deals with some high-profile matters but clearly in this instance even though uh we had seen uh quite a strong police presence around that particular area what support is does uh this mean will be given to him given the safety concerns?

[00:04:31]Yeah, I can tell you now that even during the the court as you are saying there he was protected throughout.

[00:04:37]Therefore, it was very clear to us that this is a high-profile case. We needed to be protected and therefore now the continuation of the process will happen and we cannot divulge what exactly that would be because that would be a breach of of security if we put it in a public space. Mhm. And I mean, what does this do or or or how does it even affect the morale of prosecutors in instances like this where they aren't able to do their jobs um and are being threatened uh in the execution of their duties? Uh this is not the first time that we're hearing about this. We've seen some some uh you know, prosecutors or some lawyers being gunned down uh even here in Johannesburg. And I'm not saying this is what's going to happen in this case, but they clearly are very serious safety concerns.

[00:05:23]No, we we rem remain resolute and and we are going to be fearless as the NPA and we are engaging with our partners in the JCPS cluster to make sure that we are protecting all the officials of the court including our prosecutors because it is very important that the law is seen to be done. It's not we cannot have a situation where people fear to even go and give evidence or or people prosecutors fear to do their job. That cannot be the case. Therefore, this is something that is a worrying factor and we are engaging with all the other JCPS especially the police >> and it's quite clear from your statement Mr. Kanyahu that you do believe that the magistrate had ered in the decisions that were taken. So regarding the magistrate, you asked for written reasons for the decisions that were taken. How much time have you given for a response?

[00:06:19]>> We we have not given a specific time but if you look and in our statement we are saying there that we are hopeful that the magistrate will respond within a a reasonable time. So because this is a matter of agency we want because when the decision is made all that we need is to say why did you do this? Why did you do that? so that we are able to supplement our grounds of of of the leave to appeal so that we are able to when it sits we have got all the facts before us.

[00:06:47]>> Yeah. And with the um leave to appeal uh suggesting of course that you believe that the magistrate ered in those decisions and perhaps uh you know if you're not satisfied with the reasons that are given uh will you look at reporting this particular matter to the magistrate's commission?

[00:07:05]Yeah, that that is an option before us.

[00:07:08]Therefore, we will just have to look at all the facts before we make some of these decisions. But it's an option that we are looking at. Also, >> uh Mr. Kany, we've also seen reports um of a member of parliament or or members of parliament allegedly telephoning the complainant in this particular matter.

[00:07:30]Of course, the 2.2 million alleged extortion case against Mr. Joe Ferrari Sibani and his co-acused. Is the NPA aware of this? Do you know uh who these allegations are being made against?

[00:07:43]>> No, we don't. We we have also seen it moving around in the public space and then we do not have the full effects around it, but obviously the investigating officer in the police will have to look at some of those things to see how they impact the case.

[00:07:59]>> All right. And uh uh just lastly, I know that you're still waiting for a response from the magistrate, but I will ask you anyway, Mr. Kanyo, when are we likely to see these charges reinstated? Tomorrow, next week. Uh I know you've not given a time frame. You've not given a time frame in particular for the magistrate to respond. So, uh what are we looking at here? Um I'm sure many are looking to this case to see what the NPA will do because you're quite adamant that these charges need to be reinstated.

[00:08:29]No definitely it will happen. We cannot give a definite date but it will happen sooner rather than later because we the first thing that we did was this leave to appeal which we have sent yesterday and then now we have also appointed a a a leg reputable senior council who is advising us on the approach that we need to to take in terms of uh this case being struggle of the role and once that is done which might be early in the week we will see when uh with the soonest that you can put back this matter onto the role.

[00:09:03]>> All right. And you'll surely let us know. Thank you very much indeed. Kaiser Kanyo, the spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority.