Witness

Serge Cabonge

Businessman, described in reporting as a socialite · Johannesburg

Named in evidence · allegations rejected by the commission · statement to be taken

A businessman whose recorded voice reached this commission before he did. On Tuesday 13 October 2026, at the part-heard bail application of Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya in the Randburg Magistrate's Court, the state played a call of roughly twenty-five minutes between Serge Cabonge and the man the record calls Mr M, the father of the 16-year-old girl Sibiya is accused of sexually grooming. Per the Mail and Guardian and News24 the investigating officer, Sergeant Nokukhanya Ndlovu, was called to identify the speakers and confirmed that the voices were Cabonge's and Mr M's. Within hours the commission issued a statement of its own. It is the shortest document on the commission's feed and the fastest it has ever answered an outside event: the commission 'has noted the voice recordings attributed to Mr Serge Cabonge', records that he 'has previously been mentioned at hearings before the Commission', and says it 'will engage with Mr Cabonge and obtain his statement as part of its broad investigation into matters falling within its terms of reference and his mention of the Commission in the recording'. It then closes the door: 'The Commission will not comment further on this matter at this stage.' Everything else on this page is a claim made by one man on a privately made recording, played to argue a bail point. It is not evidence before this commission, nobody has tested a word of it, several of the people it concerns are not named in it at all, and the commission's own statement goes no further than saying it will take his statement. Two days later the commission went much further. In a statement of 15 October 2026 it rejected the allegations 'outright', said 'clearly and categorically that the allegations are false, incoherent and are not supported by any facts', and stated that 'None of the commissioners or evidence leaders have met, spoken to or know Mr Cabonge.' Both of the commission's positions now stand together: the allegations are rejected, and the statement from him is still to be taken. He has not testified here. He has not been charged in connection with any of it. He is presumed innocent, and so is everyone he names.

Read the detail

Serge CabongeCabongeSibiya bailMadlanga CommissionRecording

This profile summarises testimony and evidence given on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as presented at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person.

Awaiting appearanceNo portrait on the public record yet

Their role

What the record says

The commission has answered twice, and the second answer is a flat denial

Two primary documents by the commission's spokesperson Jeremy Michaels carry the whole of the commission's position, and they are different in kind. The statement of 13 October 2026 is neutral: the commission has noted the recordings, Cabonge 'has previously been mentioned at hearings before the Commission', it will engage with him and obtain his statement, and it will not comment further. It endorses no claim, accepts nothing as true and names nobody. The statement of 15 October 2026 abandons the no-comment position and denies the substance. It rejects 'outright the allegations purportedly made by Mr Serge Cabonge regarding a man who sits in front of the Madlanga Commission', states 'clearly and categorically that the allegations are false, incoherent and are not supported by any facts', records that 'None of the commissioners or evidence leaders have met, spoken to or know Mr Cabonge', and adds that 'Neither has anyone on behalf of the Commission ever communicated with Mr Cabonge, whether directly or through an intermediary, concerning Mr Cabonge's appearance before the Commission.' It explains the reversal in its own words: ordinarily it would let the process take its course, but 'ongoing commentary in the public domain has necessitated a further and clearer response', because commentary 'suggesting that senior representatives of a judicial commission sought to interfere with a criminal investigation cannot simply be allowed to circulate as though they have a factual foundation.' It urges South Africans 'to treat allegations of this nature with the necessary caution'. Nothing published withdraws the undertaking to take his statement, so both positions stand. An institution's denial about itself is its answer on the record; it is not a judicial finding, and no tribunal has tested either the claim or the denial.

What he denies on the recording

Per Eyewitness News and Sowetan he denies having been a conduit between Sibiya and Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala: 'Me, Cat, and Sibiya never did anything. I've never collected money from Cat to give to Sibiya.' Per News24 he also says 'People think I collect money for Sibiya' and 'He [Matlala] contacted Sibiya. I never collected money from Cat to give [to] Sibiya', and says he told the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption 'I was not a middleman'. These are denials, not admissions, and they are untested.

The claim that names a serving officer

Per News24, IOL and the Mail and Guardian the recording carries a claim that the dealings ran through somebody else. News24 quotes him saying of Sibiya and Matlala: 'They have been doing things, both of them, via Fannie Nkosi.' Suspended Sergeant Fannie Nkosi has testified before this commission himself and has not answered this particular claim, which was made about him in a private call by a man who has never given evidence here. It is an untested allegation on a recording, not a finding, and Nkosi is presumed innocent.

The unidentified man at the commission, and why this archive names nobody

Per Business Day and Sowetan the same call carries an account of Cabonge having once helped get charges withdrawn in a matter arising from a collision in Sandton, and describing the man he says he helped as someone who 'sits in the front at the Madlanga commission' and who was at the time 'a judge president in one of the biggest courts'. Per the Mail and Guardian he also claimed he knew someone at the commission who had advised him to leave the country and would protect him if his name came up. The recording does not name that person. No outlet names that person. The Mail and Guardian states in terms that the identity of the person allegedly offering protection, and the truth of the claims, have not been established. This archive therefore records that the claim was made, that it is untested, and that nobody has been identified, and it speculates about no one.

The money claim, and the threat claim

Per IOL the recording also carries a claim that Sibiya received money from Matlala, which IOL states has not been established as fact. Per News24 Cabonge further alleges on the recording that Sibiya threatened him: 'This man, he [Sibiya] intimidate me to kill me because we tried to knock somebody, me and him.' Sibiya denies the allegations made against him, nothing here has been tested or determined, and the defence's position in court, per the Mail and Guardian, is that the recording must be read in context and that 'You can't take out one clip'.

Timeline

How the account unfolded

13 Oct 2026

The recording is played at the Randburg Magistrate's Court

The state plays roughly twenty-five minutes of a call between Cabonge and Mr M at Sibiya's part-heard bail application, arguing it goes to character and to the risk of interference with witnesses. The defence disputes that reading. The investigating officer, Sergeant Nokukhanya Ndlovu, identifies the speakers.

13 Oct 2026

The commission says it will take his statement

Hours later the commission publishes a one-page statement by its spokesperson Jeremy Michaels confirming it has noted the recordings, that Cabonge has previously been mentioned at its hearings, and that it will engage with him and obtain his statement. It declines further comment.

15 Oct 2026

The commission rejects the allegations as false and incoherent

Citing 'ongoing commentary in the public domain', the commission publishes a second statement rejecting the allegations outright as 'false, incoherent and ... not supported by any facts', and recording that no commissioner or evidence leader has met, spoken to or knows Cabonge, and that nobody acting for the commission has ever communicated with him, directly or through an intermediary, about his appearance before it. It confirms that public hearings resume on 9 November 2026.

On the record

1 commission document names this witness

Statement · 13 Oct 2026Madlanga Cabonge

Connections

How this witness links to the record

Denies having moved money for him

Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya

Former Deputy National Commissioner of Police (Crime Detection); resigned from the South African Police Service on 12 October 2026

The recording was played at Sibiya's bail application. In it Cabonge denies ever having collected money from Matlala to pass to Sibiya, and alleges that Sibiya threatened him. Sibiya denies the allegations against him. Untested; both presumed innocent.

View profile →Denies having been a conduit between him and Sibiya

Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala

Businessman; alleged 'Big Five' cartel figure

Cabonge's words on the recording are a denial of the conduit role: 'Me, Cat, and Sibiya never did anything.' Matlala denies the allegations against him. Nothing here is a finding and both are presumed innocent.

View profile →Named by him on the recording as the go-between

Sergeant Fannie Nkosi

Suspended sergeant, Gauteng organised crime unit, SAPS

Per News24, IOL and the Mail and Guardian the recording carries the claim that Sibiya and Matlala 'have been doing things, both of them, via Fannie Nkosi'. Nkosi has testified before this commission but has not answered this claim, which was made about him on a private recording by a man who has not given evidence here. Untested; both presumed innocent.

View profile →

Sources