{
  "id": 11123953,
  "title": "‘Blame us’: Sibanyoni’s PUTCO warning to Ramaphosa comes back to haunt him",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/blame-us-sibanyonis-putco-warning-to-ramaphosa-comes-back-to-haunt-him",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-01T06:20:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "IOL",
    "slug": "iol",
    "url": "https://iol.co.za/news/politics/blame-us-sibanyonis-putco-warning-to-ramaphosa-comes-back-to-haunt-him/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Sibanyoni, the prominent taxi union leader, warned President Cyril Ramaphosa during a campaign event in 2024 that local groups desired a 30% share in PUTCO. He cautioned that if their demands were not met, they would take matters into their own hands. However, Sibanyoni has now denied any connection to the recent attacks on PUTCO depots in January 2025. The footage from the event, which was played at the Madlanga Commission, shows Sibanyoni stating that \"when you find someone wanting to interfere with the Putco business, you must know it’s us.\" The attacks involved armed men allegedly torching buses, tying up security personnel, and assaulting employees. Sibanyoni's warning has now come back to haunt him as the events have been linked.",
  "summary": "Footage played at the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday showed Sibanyoni telling Ramaphosa that local groups wanted a 30% operational stake in PUTCO, warning that they would take matters into their own hands if their demands were not addressed.",
  "key_points": [
    "Sibanyoni warned Ramaphosa of 30% PUTCO share demand in 2024",
    "Sibanyoni denies involvement in January 2025 PUTCO depot attacks",
    "Attacks involved torching buses and assaulting employees"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Sibanyoni's past threat to take matters into his own hands if demands for a share in PUTCO weren't met now undermines his denial of involvement in the recent attacks on PUTCO depots.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}