A Johannesburg High Court judge has ordered the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) to submit a full report on the alleged assault, torture and disappearance of a Nigerian immigrant who ‘disappeared’ during a televised “drug” raid in Springs, involving the presenter of the Sizok’thola show.
Silas Ani allegedly went missing following the taping of the show, which has previously come under fire for promoting violence.
Ani’s family now says they want answers. “The family wants to know if he’s alive or not. And if not, where his body is so they can bury him.”
It is alleged that a group of Nigerian immigrants were assaulted by presenter Xolani Khumalo, his crew, and private security during the taping of DStv channel Moja Love’s Sizok’thola on 24 April 2025. According to a police report read by Judge Denise Fisher, Ani was last seen getting into a black BMW driven by masked men described as “investigators” working with Khumalo. Ani has not been seen again.
Khumalo has previously been in trouble with the law, and in April, murder charges against him in connection with the death of a suspected drug dealer during a 2023 raid in Katlehong were withdrawn while the state continued its investigations.
Police denied being present at the scene, but Ani’s family’s lawyers argued that there was video and photographic evidence contradicting this. Judge Fisher confirmed she had seen the footage, showing civilians carrying out arrests and placing people into police vans.
Citing police reports, Judge Fisher said, “An operation was undertaken by a group of people, including security companies and the operators of a TV programme on Moja Love, which has as its purpose the identification of [people] suspected of being involved in drug peddling or drug activity … These men, all Nigerian citizens … were taken to an empty flat where they were tortured brutally by being beaten, for the purposes of getting them to confess on camera.”
According to Judge Fisher, footage also showed Khumalo placing the injured men into police vans while officers stood by. “The police seem to admit that ultimately, these men, in their injured state, were taken to the Springs police station, where an ambulance was called. None of them were charged.”
As per Bizcommunity, IPID assistant director Thulani Magagula told the court that their investigation found police officers were indeed at the raid, but he explained that the operation was led by the Sizok’thola team, with SAPS providing backup.
“In an operation, the police must be in charge,” he said. “But in this operation, it was a surprise when civilians were in charge instead of the police.”
“That’s not protocol and totally wrong because respondents two and three [Siyaya Media Network and Khumalo] don’t have legal standing to conduct any search. But in this instance, they did, and that’s unlawful.”
According to Magagula, victims stated that they were naked and beaten with a cricket bat. “The missing person [Ani] was also tortured while naked,” he said. He said the last time Ani was seen, he was unconscious and was with Khumalo and his team, not the police.
“Mr Ani might have died on the spot. I say that because his movement is controlled at Home Affairs and it shows that he never left the country. His personal bank account is also stagnant.”
Judge Fisher ordered IPID to submit a report by 8 August to the National Director of Public Prosecutions and to make a copy available to Ani’s family. The report must include recommendations for further action.
[Source: Bizcommunity]
