By Johnathan Paoli
The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has rejected the plea-and-sentence agreement negotiated between prosecutors and alleged crime kingpin Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala, with Magistrate Ignatius du Preez ruling that the proposed effective eight-year prison sentence failed to reflect the seriousness of the offences.
Delivering his judgment on Wednesday, du Preez found that the agreement struck between the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and Matlala under Section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act was not a just sentence, despite acknowledging the accused’s willingness to cooperate with investigators.
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“The Court finds that, by taking all counts together for the purpose of sentence, a sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment, of which seven years are suspended, resulting in an effective period of eight years’ incarceration, is not just,” du Preez said.
He said that the court’s role was not merely to endorse agreements reached by the prosecution and defence.
“In considering the justness or unjustness of the sentence agreement, the Court cannot simply decide for itself in vacuum what sentence it would have imposed for the crimes to which the accused pleaded guilty. If that was the case, I would have, without a doubt, imposed a much heavier sentence under the circumstances. But that is besides the point,” he said.
Matlala had pleaded guilty to fraud, corruption, and money laundering linked to the fraudulent R228.6 million SAPS-Medicare24 health services tender and agreed to testify against senior police officials allegedly implicated in the corruption scheme.
However, du Preez found that the agreement placed excessive weight on Matlala’s cooperation while failing to adequately account for the gravity of the crimes.
“I remain mindful of the objectives of Section 105A proceedings. However, the emphasis placed on the accused’s cooperation in pursuit of other alleged criminals is extreme. Such emphasis comes at the cost of the interests of society and the serious nature of the seven offences,” he said.
The magistrate also rejected submissions that Matlala’s cooperation demonstrated genuine remorse.
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“These offences were committed out of greed and for no other reason. The accused’s willingness to cooperate with the authorities followed only after his arrest and upon realising the authorities were on to him. I am not persuaded that Accused One has genuine remorse,” he said.
Instead, du Preez said the court viewed Matlala’s cooperation as a bargaining tool.
He described Matlala as the architect of the fraud that enabled Medicare24 to secure the lucrative SAPS contract.
“These facts tell the story of a person possessed with a corrupt, deceptive, and devious mind capable of orchestrating a carefully planned criminal operation,” du Preez said.
He added that while senior SAPS officials may also have been involved, Matlala remained central to the criminal enterprise.
Having rejected the negotiated agreement, the magistrate proposed what he regarded as an appropriate sentence should both the State and defence accept it.
Under the court’s proposal, Matlala would receive 15 years’ imprisonment for fraud, with seven years suspended for five years on strict conditions, including that he testify truthfully in all future criminal proceedings, provide sworn statements when requested, not retract previous statements and remain in South Africa during the suspension period.
For the three corruption counts, du Preez proposed 10 years’ imprisonment, with eight years running concurrently with the fraud sentence.
A further 10-year sentence was proposed for the three money laundering counts, with eight years also running concurrently.
“The net result is a period of 12 years’ imprisonment,” the magistrate said.
The proposed sentence also confirms that Matlala would remain unfit to possess a firearm.
Du Preez emphasised that these were not yet final sentences.
“It must be noted the accused is not sentenced to this. Should they agree with the Court that this is a just sentence, the Court will only then proceed to convict the accused and then hand down the sentence as the Court viewed just,” he said.
If either side rejects the proposal, the plea agreement will fall away entirely, no convictions will be entered, and the matter will be referred to another court to proceed to trial afresh.
Following more than an hour long adjournment, the prosecutor confirmed that they and Matlala’s legal team have not yet reached an agreement.
Magistrate du Preez postponed the matter to 13 July for a final decision.
