Des Erasmus
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told Parliament on Wednesday that criminally charged businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala appeared to enjoy unusual privileges inside Pretoria’s C-Max prison, including access to prohibited items and freedom of movement.
Testifying before the ad hoc committee that is investigating allegations first made by the Lieutenant-General in July last year, Mkhwanazi said the claims stemmed from a handwritten statement by fellow inmate Jermaine Prim.
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Mkhwanazi was testifying on the last day of the committee’s oral hearings.
“In this statement of this gentleman (Prim), this alleges that [Vusimusi] ‘Cat’ Matlala has freedom inside,” Mkhwanazi told the committee. “[Matlala] is very close with the head of the facility. That’s why he can get around and can get things done with ease.”
Mkhwanazi also referred to the cellphone found inside Matlatla’s cell. That information was already in the public domain before his testimony. The phone was found inside Matlala’s cell during a raid at Kgosi Mampuru prison last year.
“How did the phone get to [him] inside the cell? It’s, again, a question mark,” Mkhwanazi told committee members.
“But what this man is saying, the relationship with the head of the centre and some officials within that centre, it’s clear that ‘Cat’ can get whatever he likes inside that place.”
Mkhwanazi added that Prim’s statement was still “hearsay”.
He said Prim had written down matters he claimed to have heard from Matlala while the two were in custody.
He said that some details in the letter appeared to correspond with information later given under oath before the ad hoc committee and the Madlanga Commission.
He said the allegations “might need to be considered and be investigated further”.
Matlala was transferred from Kgosi Mampuru to eBongweni Correctional Centre in Kokstad in December.
He, alongside four co-accused, is currently facing charges that include 11 counts of attempted murder, as well as allegations of money laundering and the use of a fraudulent invoice in relation to three shooting incidents.
He has also been implicated in an ongoing investigation into fraud and corruption relating to a R360 million SAPS health tender.
