Well-known Limpopo businessman and pastor Johny Thomani Khubana (59) has sent out a strong warning to members of the Tshisole Black Mafia Family (BMF) that if they dare to mess with him or his family, a mass funeral will be the result.
The Tshisole BMF claims to be fighting crime as they are often seen visiting schools, warning learners against crime. However, a large section of the community has aligned it with a criminal gang that terrorises communities and involves itself in serious and violent crimes. The BMF, however, has vehemently denied these accusations.
Earlier this month, the multimillion-rand luxury mansion of a BMF leader, Thivhilaeli Hlungwani, in Muledane Block J, was burned down by unknown arsonists. The enigmatic 32-year-old Hlungwani was shot execution-style at a restaurant opposite Thavhani Mall along the R524 road in the early hours of Sunday, 23 April this year.
Johny Khubana's warning comes after he received a threatening message on WhatsApp on Monday, 17 July, which he believes was sent by someone connected to the Tshisole BMF. The message reads as follows:
"Good evening Mr Khubana. Tshisole (BMF) would like to set up a meeting with you on Friday at 16h00. You must make sure that you are available. BMF members will visit you in your office. You have threatened one of our family member. You don't want to find yourself and your family on a wrong side of Tshisole. Anything that will happen to our brother will be on your head and your family. See you soon.
Blood by Blood
Live by Live
Bullet by Bullet
Swod by Swod
Peace by Peace
Accident by Accident." (Sic)
Khubana, who owns a security company, the first black-owned shooting range, a security training academy, and Thohoyandou's only gun shop among his businesses, said he had received a call from one of his students, who was unhappy and complaining about his grades on Sunday evening (16 July).
"The guy shouted at me with the worst vulgar language, but I tried to calm him down and offered to attend to his problem. I told him I would attend to him the following day, but that did not help. The guy would not even listen to me and continued to insult me until I became fed up. What I told him was that I would open a case against him," he said.
Reacting to the threatening message, Khubana made clear that he was not shaken or deterred by the threats, and that he would not be made to live in fear by faceless boys. He said he was ready to take them on, should they dare set foot in his office or home. "I fear no one and will not be made to stand on one foot. You touch my family, and there is going to be a mass funeral. Do not start something that you are not prepared to face. I will not be cowed by boys," he warned.
Khubana further indicated that he had done his investigations and found out that the contact number used to send him the threatening message had been used by 11 people, but the last person to use it was a certain "Kenny" from the Vuwani area. He said he had also found more information about Kenny's family and where he lived. "This incident has caused a lot of discomfort in my family. My children cannot sleep, and the staff who work here are not comfortable, but I think the BMF should come forward and issue a statement condemning the incident. The BMF should find a way to control and monitor their brand and their members, and if they can't, they should just dissolve the organisation. Many are committing crimes in their name; their name is being tarnished, and if we have to retaliate, innocent people would be hurt. It is fortunate that he confessed that he is not a member of the BMF," he said.
Khubana has since laid a charge but was disappointed that, even after he had reported the case, the police had still not bothered to check on him or inquire if he was safe.
Commenting on the incident, one of the BMF leaders, said the organisation distanced itself from the man (who sent the message to Khubana) and the incident. He asked not to be identified, as a new leader of BMF still needs to be elected. "We don't even know this man. We don't threaten people as we are against crime, and we are sending a warning to whoever is using our brand for bad behaviour to stop," he said.