Mbombela (Nelspruit) – Prosecutor Mkhuseli Ntaba, who was slapped with a contempt of court charge and a warrant issued for his arrest after he failed to show up for work, can breathe a sigh of relief.
Ntaba appeared to be in deep trouble when he was a no-show at the highly publicised bail hearing of taxi boss Joe”Ferrari” Sibanyoni and three other co-accused in an extortion matter.
As a result, Chief Magistrate Tuletu Tonjeni struck the extortion matter off the roll, freed all the accused, and ruled that Ntaba was in contempt of court and issued a warrant of arrest against him.
Soon after their release, the taxi tycoon and his co-accused, Bafana “King of Sky” Sindane, Mvimbi Masilela, and Philemon Msiza, were seen smiling outside the court.
However, prosecutor Ntaba, who resurfaced after a period of being unreachable, told his National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) bosses that his no-show was because he had been threatened.
In an about-turn on Saturday, 23 May 2026, the NPA, which had suspended Ntaba over the episode, said it was appealing against the warrant of arrest.
In a statement, the NPA said: “The director of public prosecutions in Mpumalanga has filed an application for leave to appeal against a warrant of arrest issued to state prosecutor Mkhuseli Ntaba”.
NPA Spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the NPA was dissatisfied with the conviction order and warrant of arrest issued by Magistrate Tonjeni .
“The orders that the director of public prosecutions seeks to appeal, were, among others, the conviction of the prosecutor for contempt of court and the order authorising a warrant of arrest against him,” explained Kganyago.
“In terms of our legal system, the implication of the filing of the said application is that the orders are automatically suspended until the hearing of the application for leave to appeal and finalisation thereof.”
Kganyago said a team of legal experts was robbed by the NPA for advice.
In addition to the notice for leave to appeal, the NDPP has also filed a formal request for written reasons for the orders with a view to supplementing the grounds upon which the leave to appeal is based.
The NPA did not say if it had lifted Ntaba’s suspension, which was imposed soon after he was found guilty of contempt of court.
