Infamous diamond trader Sylla Moussa, who was embroiled in a court wrangle over the ownership of a R1.1bn pink diamond, has been murdered in a suspected assassination that has been kept under wraps.
TimesLIVE Investigations can reveal that Moussa, along with a senior Sandton police officer, were ambushed by four gunmen on the N12 on August 20 near the Mponeng gold mine entrance in Carletonville. Moussa died in hospital the following day.
His death — which according to his death certificate, seen by TimesLIVE Premium, at Lenmed hospital on August 21 due to unnatural causes — has not been made public until now. The police confirmed to TimesLIVE Investigations he was shot dead.
Moussa owned Sylla Diamond International. The company’s website lists diamonds for sale ranging from $19,000 to $30m (R330,000 to R522m) for a 178-carat “natural rare rough diamond”.
Moussa made headlines in 2019 when he sued Swiss storage company Malca-Amit for handing over “his” pink diamond to Johannesburg businessman Zunaid Moti.
Moussa was also sued by Absa in 2006 for R40m in fraud after he allegedly used a technique known as “cheque kiting” — writing cheques to transfer cash before the cheques bounce. Absa dropped the case after he paid some of the money back.
Three days before his death, an email sent to Moussa by Brinks Global Services courier, which TimesLIVE Investigations has seen, shows he was to collect a “high value” shipment on August 19, which had recently been brought into SA. It is not known if he collected the shipment.
His killing is being investigated by Gauteng organised crime detectives. No-one has been arrested.
Moussa was returning home to Johannesburg from a colleague’s funeral in Wolmaransstad, North West, when he and Col Cain Sibitane were attacked.
Sibitane is the commander of the Sandton police station’s crime prevention unit. He was off-duty at the time of the attack and is the only witness to the ambush, having survived with a bullet wound to the back of his neck.
I was bleeding and could not see properly. The windscreen was shattered from the bullets. I was panicking and thought they were going to finish me.
— Col Cain Sibitane
“I can only give you a little bit of information about the attack,” Sibitane told TimesLIVE Investigations. “You must understand it is still under investigation. I was driving my bakkie. There were four men in a car who attacked us. They were in front. They opened fire without warning.
“I thought we were being hijacked. It was only by the grace of Jesus that I survived. The bullet went behind my neck then out by ear. I still don’t know how it missed my spinal cord.”
He said the gunmen, who were armed with shotguns and pistols, forced them to a stop before grabbing two bags from the car.
“It was my gym bag and a bag belonging to Sylla.
“I was bleeding and could not see properly. The windscreen was shattered from the bullets. I was panicking and thought they were going to finish me.”
Sibitane said he managed to open fire with his service pistol as the men escaped.
“I believe I shot at least one, maybe two, of the gunmen.”
He said he drove to the mine’s entrance for help, and from there they were taken to hospital.
“I was taken to Fountains hospital to be stabilised, while Moussa was first taken to Carletonville hospital then airlifted Lenmed hospital, where he died.”
He said he was not meant to have been with Moussa that day.
“I was helping Sylla out like I would help any friend. He phoned me on the Friday to say his business partner had died and it was his funeral.
“It was in a rural area, he had to go, and the person who was going to take him had pulled out. He knew I had a bakkie and asked me for my help. I could not say no.”
He said he had no idea what the motive of the shooting was.
“He was never really worried about his safety. We would talk about the dangers of the business he was in, but I would not say he was particularly worried.”
Asked whose funeral they attended, he said: “I do not know the person’s name. I was there to support Sylla. The funeral was somewhere in the North West in a rural area. It was the first time I went there.”
He said he had lots of questions over what had happened.
“I nearly died over something I had no involvement in. I am as confused as everyone. I am angry and traumatised.”
He said while driving back from the funeral, Moussa said he wanted to meet someone in Potchefstroom who had something for him.
“Sylla did not say who he was meeting, and I did not ask. While driving towards Potchefstroom he received several telephone calls. After the last call he said the meeting was cancelled.
“We stopped at the McDonald’s in Potchefstroom, then we got back on the road. The next thing we were being attacked in the middle of nowhere.”
Moussa’s girlfriend of seven years, Lendy Spires, told TimesLIVE Investigations she did not know he was travelling on the day he was killed. She has been trying to piece together his last hours.
She said Sylla never went anywhere without his driver or bodyguard.
“He never went anywhere without them ... I have more questions than answers, based specifically on his bank transactions that day, which show he was not in Wolmaransstad but in Schweizer-Reneke.”
TimesLIVE Investigations has seen Moussa’s Absa bank statements which show on the day he died he shopped at a Midas in Schweizer-Reneke, where he also bought KFC.
Schweizer-Reneke is an hour’s drive west of Wolmaransstad.
The bank statement shows that day he spent:
- R3,490.90 in three transactions at a Potchefstroom Engen garage;
- R127.80 at a Klerksdorp Total garage;
- R94.80 at a Klerksdorp McDonald’s;
- R153.80 at KFC in Schweizer-Reneke;
- R640 at Midas in Schweizer-Reneke; and
- R206 on an Uber trip in Johannesburg.
Spires said what added to her confusion was that someone used Moussa’s bank card to withdraw R1,330 three days after his death.
“I don’t know who withdrew the money or how they came to have his bank card.”
Moussa embroiled in ‘pink diamond’ court battle
For years Moussa made headlines with court cases across SA and Europe, including a battle of ownership over a 55-carat pink diamond worth R1.1bn.
At the time of his murder Moussa was suing the Swiss storage company Malca-Amit for handing, what he claimed was his diamond, over to Moti and Moti’s business partners, Abbas Aboo Baker Moti, Ashruf Kaka and Salm Bobat, in 2013.
In October 2019, the Sunday Times reported that according to the Swiss company, Moussa had “relinquished ownership of the diamond” after he defaulted on a debt.
In 2018, Moussa told TimesLIVE: “The Motis discovered I was in financial difficulties. They said they wanted to partner with me in my business.
“They sent people to Geneva to view my diamond, but it was under false pretences. They used false documents to steal my diamond.”
Interpol arrested Moti in 2017. He spent five months in a German jail before he was exonerated. He returned to SA in January 2018.
TimesLIVE Investigations has seen the Interpol notice which exonerates Moti and his co-accused.
Moti Group legal, compliance and risk officer Natalie Graaff said Moti was aware of the murder.
“It is a tragic, senseless crime. It is always distressing to hear news that somebody has died in this manner.”
Asked about the court case in Geneva, she said there was an ongoing matter in relation to the diamond in Switzerland.
“However, Moti was merely a witness in this matter and not a party to the proceedings as an accused or complainant. The Interpol arrest notices had nothing to do with Moussa. Nor did the unlawful charges he was subjected to, have anything to do with a diamond.”
Gauteng police spokesperson, Col Mavela Masondo, confirmed Moussa’s death, saying he was first treated at the Mponeng Gold mine Medical Centre, before he was taken to Carletonville hospital and then flown to Lenmed Hospital.
“No motive has been determined. No arrests have been made. The case is still under investigation.”
He declined to answer detailed questions.
“Other questions cannot be answered because they are part of the investigation. Discussing them in the public domain might compromise the investigation.”
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