Vusi Khekhe Mathibela, the school dropout turned businessman, is one of the South African business owners who made his fortune from the transportation business with numerous taxis under his name. Known as the Taxi boss, Vusi has been having his way with the Mamelodi Amalgamated Taxi Association (MATA) for a long while and wielding power to enrich himself daily. Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s net worth is said to be over R8,965,980 or about $600,000, though his actual net worth is unknown. Details about how he built his wealth and the controversies that have trailed him are revealed here.
Vusi Khekhe Mathibela Started His Taxi Businesses After Quitting High School
After quitting high school, he went straight to start the taxi driving business. This same business was his late father’s business before his demise, and he owned a taxi. What was not clear is whether his father had died before he (Vusi Khekhe Mathibela) started the business or not. Vusi Khekhe started as a taxi driver; he worked hard and got his own taxi, and from there, he acquired another taxi to join the one he was using for the business.
In a few years, he added more taxis to his business, making him grow from just a taxi to several taxis. He had many drivers working for him, driving his taxis and raking in money daily. With this, he never stopped adding to the number of vehicles plying different routes in the entire municipality. And this was how his fortune kept growing. Looking into how influential he has become in his line of business, Vusi Khekhe Mathibela is an authority, a force that has many cronies loyal to him and cliques that he uses as instruments of power exertion to practically force others in the line of business into submission.
Successfully creating a kind of syndicate to work for him and forming a structure or system that rakes in money for him daily has seen him soar to the top in accumulating wealth and becoming extremely powerful in his territory. With Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s huge net worth, he is reported to possess so much power and influence not only in his business but also in the entire region.
Other Businesses that Contributes to Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s Net Worth
At the rate of his growth in the taxi business, he could afford to venture into another line of business and fund it without any itch. Vusi does not just have one business; he has four other viable businesses apart from the taxi business. These businesses include at least his nightclub and security outfit company.
Nightclub Business
Vusi Khekhe started his nightclub business and built it to standard. He also employed staff to run it. The business grew, and he was making money from it. Over time, the nightclub has become a popular relaxation spot in Sunnyside, Pretoria, and has become the people’s favorite. However, due to certain issues about an incident that happened in the nightclub, the actual name of the establishment has not been revealed to the public to protect the business.
Number 1 Tsotsi Security Outfit
Another business owned by the taxi boss is his security outfit. The name of the establishment is “Number 1 Tsotsi.” The exact time he established the outfit and the size and structure of the company have not been made public. Other business outfits linked to the taxi boss are not made public, but he is said to be the director of two other companies in combination with those mentioned above.
Vusi Mathibela Has Been Accused of Growing His Businesses by Extorting Other Businesses
For a long while now, Vusi Khekhe Mathibela has been enjoying the rewards of his investments, and the businesses have been fetching him a lot of money. To him, there is no cause for alarm, as machinery has been set in motion. But the tide seems to be going against him lately. His businesses have been faced with controversies lately, and it has weighed down on his business. Series of allegations were leveled against his businesses, which have led to court cases.
One of the major allegations against him and his business is that he forms and controls a group whose business is to extort other business owners in the entire region. As reported by the locals in Mamelodi, he (Vusi Khekhe Mathibela) has created so much fear in the heart of his victims that they shiver by mere hearing his name, and his victims have always been taxi drivers and business owners around Mamelodi. According to reports, the extortion ring he forms and controls goes about taxing local business owners and taxi drivers a certain amount, to be paid at stipulated times as a protection fee; this fee is a must-pay to avoid being attacked by the clique.
It was further detailed that each taxi driver had to pay R200 every week per minibus to Mr. Vusi Khekhe’s coffers to avoid being in trouble with his boys. Also, individual Spaza shop owners and other small business owners must pay a compulsory due of R500 every month to him like the protection fee, and it has to be paid at all cost. Locals claimed he was so dreadful and dangerous that he could do anything. They insisted he was the one that masterminded the threats that forced the City of Tshwane to discontinue its bus service in the township. According to them, Khekhe Mathibela lives in Midlands but seldom visits the township, and in most cases, he comes in a convoy of over 15 cars and is also seen guarded by more than 30 fierce-looking bouncers.
In most cases when he comes around, it’s always a scene, as the streets are closed down from end to end for his convoy until they have passed. It’s always been a show of power and influence anytime he comes, says one of the locals. The locals are tired of his operations in the area and had to take a bold step in hinting to the police about his actions and dominance in the township as nobody dares challenge his authority.
The attendance of Mr. Bheki Cele, the police minister, in a community forum sometime in February 2019 saw the residents call for the charge of the nefarious taxi boss. The locals boldly made another move by talking to the police head about Vusi Khekhe Mathibela, reminding him of his words when the police came for the unveiling of the new provincial commissioner before the latest visit, where he (Police Minister) promised to take actions on him in a matter of three months.
People got fed up with His Intimidation and Called the Police on Him
But the uneasiness of the locals over Mathibela’s terror reign saw them pushed harder on the police boss, insisting on his quick arrest, as three months will be too long to bring him to book over his atrocities and nefarious activities in the region, claiming they know him (Mathibela) very well and know what he is capable of doing, within the space of that three months the police pleaded for. This made the police minister change his mind over the matter and vowed to take immediate action over his case, which he eventually did.
The police minister then declared Mr. Vusi Khekhe Mathibela wanted by the police authority in March 2019. Not too long after that, the police minister hinted while speaking at the funeral of Sibusiso Khwinana (the Matwetwe lead actor) that the police had arrested four of Mathibela’s bodyguards and his spokesperson Elias Skhosana in KwaZulu-Natal. About six of Mathibela’s men were made to appear in two different courts with charges of coercion, extortion, and possession of firearms, while Mathibela himself remains wanted by the police.
Vusi Khekhe Mathibela Turned Himself Over to the Police
On account of Mathibela’s men in the police custody and knowing where such a case was leading to, Khekhe turned himself in for the police’s arrest a few days after his men had been in police custody. Police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo confirmed that Mathibela turned himself in for arrest in Germiston, Johannesburg. Meanwhile, Mamelodi East police had obtained a warrant to arrest Mathibela for assault, extortion, and intimidation. There are allegations of him operating a clique terrorizing and holding the Mamelodi community into Ransome over some time.
To prove to locals that the notorious taxi boss had been arrested, Vusi Khekhe Mathibela was paraded by the police in handcuffs, right in the same township he had been terrorizing allegedly for a long while. People of the community who saw him (Mathibela) being paraded by the police narrated that he was nudged around and displayed for the full view of the locals. As Vusi Khekhe Mathibela and his men were charged to court, and as the news broke out, local shop owners and taxi drivers were excited about the arrest and prosecution.
The Court Dissolved His Leadership of Mamelodi Taxi Association
By this time, all these legal troubles were already taking a toll on Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s net worth as he kept on losing business patronage. The detained taxi boss began to lose his grip on the Mamelodi Taxi Association when the court ruled on the matter of the association and came up with a decision that weakened him as the leader of the association. A court order was granted to dissolve the executive committee of the embattled Mamelodi Amalgamated Taxi Association (MATA). As a result, a Pretoria lawyer (Hettie Groenewald) was appointed as the administrator of the Mamelodi Taxi Association by Gauteng transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo to oversee the association’s administration.
The new administrator was assigned with a 10-man advisory committee to assist in the running of the association. It comprises representatives from MATA, The South African National Taxi Council, and the Federated Local and Long Distance Taxi Association (FELLDTA). The job of the newly appointed administrator and the advisory committee is to prepare for adequate elections that will see the association have a legally elected executive committee that will head the association.
Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s Uncle and Co-accused was Murdered While their Trial was Ongoing
Khekhe Mathibela’s uncle Suthu Mathibela, a Mamelodi taxi boss and deputy chairman of the Mamelodi Amalgamated Taxi Association, was killed by some unknown gunmen. The then 65-year-old trusted uncle of Khekhe Mathibela was ambushed and shot while driving alone in the evening, around 7 p.m, at the Cullinan road intersection on the eastern side of the township.
Reports have it that the deputy chairman of the association would be third in line to be shot dead in the association within three months. His death, however, was a big blow to Khekhe Mathibela, as he remains his trusted right-hand man. Also, the uncle was a person of interest to the police in the investigation ongoing about the allegation of extortion, intimidation and assault, and money laundering charged against Khekhe. He (Suthu Mathibela) was to be charged together with his nephew Khekhe.
The Preferential Treatments His Taxis Enjoy Got Clipped
The sudden intervention of the MEC was prompted as the taxi drivers in the region took to the streets to protest the alleged preferential treatments enjoyed by 50 taxis reportedly owned by Mathibela. It was a three-week protest that saw one of Mathibela’s taxis set ablaze by the angry protesters. According to one of the taxi drivers, the power-wielding taxi boss (Mathibela) has been having his way by making everybody dance to his tunes, including the chairman of the association (Ntate Phora).
By this, all taxis belonging to Mathibela are allowed to jump queues when loading passengers. Similarly, Mathibela pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him, and he moved a motion through his legal counsel that his arrest was not proper and against the law. Still, it was quite unfortunate for him as the North Gauteng High Court ruling by Judge Cassim Sardiwalla dismissed his motion with cost.
The Murder Case Against Visu Khekhe Mathibela
After his trial at the court of law for intimidation, extortion, and illegal possession of firearms alongside six of his men, Khekhe was indicted again for his involvement in a murder case. This time Vusi Khekhe Mathibela seems to have bitten more than he can chew, as this was a classified high-profile case that could see Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s net worth diminish and also see him spend the rest of his life in jail, if not sentenced to death, peradventure he was found guilty of the murder.
Visu Khekhe Mathibela was accused of the murder of a billionaire businessman Wandille Bozwana and the attempted murder of Wandille Bozwana’s business partner Mpho Baloyi. He was killed in October 2015 in a shower of bullets on the Garsfontein Road at N1 Highway in Pretoria. The murder case has been in court (Gauteng High Court Pretoria) since March 2018 and had been adjourned several times for the hearing of other cases. The expectation now is that the case would be concluded very soon.
The incident that occurred at the N1 Highway that fateful day saw Wandile Bozwana hit by several bullets as the car halted for the traffic light at the junction, and the gunmen opened fire on them. His partner Mpho Baloyi, who managed to drive off the scene, got hit by two bullets and was badly injured. Bozwana could not make it, as he was hit more than nine times and later died at the hospital.
Khekhe Mathibela was rumored to be behind the killing, alongside his three co-accused: Matamela Robert Mutapa, Bonginkosi Paul Khumalo, and Sipho Hudla. It was reported that the other three men acted on Khekhe Mathibela’s instruction to carry out the assassination.
Why Would Khekhe Mathibela want Wandille Bozwana Dead?
Based on the statements obtained from Vusi Khekhe Mathibela, he mentioned that the billionaire businessman was having a secret affair with his wife. Though he did not admit he killed anyone, one could easily deduce that this might be the reason for carrying out the strike on Wandile Bozwana. It is nothing but a probability.
According to the report from forensic investigations and other underground findings, Khekhe Mathibela and the other three accused were present at Sandton City that day Wandile Bozwana was there and monitored his movements. This was revealed by the video footage from the mall presented to the court.
In the footage, one of the accused was identified watching Bozwana and his partner Baloyi as they did the shopping and visited a salon for nail fixing, though the video was not clear enough. To ascertain the identity of the accused, a facial recognition expert was engaged, who asserted the identity of some of the other accused through their clothes and body language.
Video Evidence Showed Vusi Khekhe Mathibela Around where Bozwana was Murdered
Besides the aforementioned evidence, video footage also revealed that Khekhe Mathibela was at the nearby Nelson Mandela Square that same day, which he did not refute. He, however, insisted that he knew nothing about the murder and that he did not come after Baloyi and Bozwana to Pretoria, which was the same for the other accused persons; they denied their involvement in the incident.
With Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s net worth, one would think he will easily lobby himself out of the case, but it is not so. Khekhe Mathibela and the other accused maintained that the court had no direct or concrete evidence connecting them to the murder. Therefore, they should be acquitted. Of the truth, no eyewitness has come up to identify any of the accused as the shooter, but a witness claimed he saw the shooter from afar shooting at the car. In addition to that, no DNA evidence could be established to link the accused to the Assassination.
Further investigation by the court engaged a phone expert, who analyzed the accused’s phones and discovered that three of the four accused’s phones have their location picked up in the vicinity of the shooting that day. However, even though the phone experts could confirm that the phone towers had identified the phones of the accused persons in the vicinity of the incident on a particular day, the holders of the phones at the said time could not be ascertained.
In furtherance to the murder case, one of the accused, Hudla, was said to have brought in another dimension to the case, thereby rating it another prolonged trial-within-a-trial kind of case. Hudla had earlier confessed to the police shortly after they were arrested that Vusi Khekhe Mathibela paid him, and the other accused a sum of R60,000 to terminate the billionaire businessman.
He later changed the narrative, admitting that the police had forced him to admit to what he has not done. Many people believe that with Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s massive net worth, he could easily have paid him more money to change his statement. Meanwhile, the judge had earlier documented this as part of the concrete evidence to nail them.
Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s Net Worth Won’t Save Him From Going to Jail
Going by the dragging nature of the case in court due to the evidence that seems not concrete and direct enough to nail Khekhe and his co-accused, they have not to been sentenced to jail yet. The fact remains that the case is still on, and Khekhe has been remanded. Despite Khekhe Mathibela’s net worth, there’s no way he is buying his freedom from this case. There was even a time he was placed in the C-max prisons with convicted criminals, but he protested through his lawyer to be removed from the prison to a remand prison, which he won.
He also asked the court to permit his people to be bringing him food, claiming there is a plot to poison him through the food served in prison. Furthermore, with his co-accused (Elias Skhosana and Stemmer Monageg), the charges brought up against Vusi Khekhe Mathibela, including extortion, intimidation, assault, and money laundering, have been withdrawn by the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) at the Pretoria Regional Court on May 7. After a year of being on the case, it has to be withdrawn, as the witnesses have declined to work together with them to make headway with it.
This became apparent in that the security company (witness in this case) had filed an affidavit declaring they no longer wish to press on with the case, and also, the main witness had not been supportive. Given that, a source revealed that it can only happen that way because Khekhe Mathibela still wields his power in the region, despite being locked up, also the witnesses (people who revoked charges against him) live in Mamelodi, knowing that Khekhe Mathibela has a squad working for him and carrying out his instructions. They have to withdraw charges against him (Mathibela) if they want to live in peace in the area.
In the heat of the murder case against him, Vusi Khekhe Mathibela could file bail through his lawyer, to the tune of R50,000. It is worthy to note that the court cases tied around Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s neck have been ongoing for some years now, and some of the charges have seen him being locked behind bars to give room for more investigations into his cases. Vusi Khekhe Mathibela’s net worth of R8,965,980 (about $600,000) could be diminishing as he has not been around to properly monitor his businesses.
In all, Vusi Khekhe Mathibela has become highly successful in the South Africa taxi industry and headed other business enterprises, despite not being educated. His many court cases have weighed him down due to his alleged involvement in nefarious activities, which may eventually end him up in jail if found guilty.
