Infamous diamond dealer gunned down in hush-hush SA hit
Moussa was expected to collect a ‘high value’ shipment the day before his death
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, was 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, at Lenmed hospital on August 21 was 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 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 my 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 to 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
The bullet went behind my neck then out by my ear. I still don’t know how it missed my spinal cord
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;
● 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.”
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.