By Johnathan Paoli
Controversial businessman Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala has admitted that he has not fully repaid a R15-million loan he obtained for his Medicare24 business from North West businessman Suliman Carrim, saying he cannot determine how much remains outstanding because his bank accounts have been frozen.
Testifying before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Monday, evidence leader Mahlape Sello pressed Matlala for details of the loan and its repayment terms, despite his repeated claims that answering questions about the arrangement could incriminate him in the criminal case arising from the controversial SAPS health services contract.
Matlala said he approached Carrim for funding after showing him the Medicare24 contract and service-level agreement and discussing the value of the contract and what Carrim could earn from it.
He said one of Carrim’s companies advanced R15 million to his company under an oral agreement, with no written contract or security for the loan.
Asked about the repayment terms, Matlala said he believed he was required to pay Carrim 10% of the money SAPS paid Medicare24.
“I think I was supposed to do that until I repaid it. I don’t remember the contents of the oral agreement from the top of my head. But what I know is that I was paying him 10% of what SAPS was paying,” he said.
Sello pressed Matlala on how much remained outstanding.
He conceded that the loan had not been fully repaid but said he could not provide an exact figure because he no longer had access to his bank statements.
Matlala said repayments were made from the Medicare24 bank account and suggested the commission subpoena the relevant banking records to establish how much had been paid.
Commission chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga said Matlala could identify the relevant transactions in a supplementary statement so the commission could obtain the records and establish the repayment history.
Matlala said this would be difficult because his accounts had been frozen following his arrest.
The questioning was significant because Matlala repeatedly sought to limit his answers by invoking his constitutional protection against self-incrimination.
In his statement, he said an ongoing financial investigation into money paid by SAPS to Medicare24 meant that answering further questions about the loan could expose him to criminal liability.
The commission nevertheless established key details of the arrangement, including the R15-million principal, the 10% repayment mechanism and the fact that the debt remains outstanding.
Matlala said he met Carrim through late taxi boss Jotham “Mswazi” Msibi, whom he knew through his security business.
Carrim, he said, would visit Msibi’s farm, and the two eventually became close through their involvement in the security industry.
Earlier, the commission focused on alleged political fixer Brown Mogotsi, with Matlala accusing him of invoking the name of the police minister to obtain money from him.
Matlala said Mogotsi first contacted him after police raided his home in December 2024 and claimed to be from the office of suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.
“Brown Mogotsi impersonated to me that he was from the office of the Minister of Police,” Matlala said.
He said Mogotsi offered to help him open a case against the police officers involved in the raid but later requested money for an investigator’s accommodation.
Matlala said he initially gave Mogotsi R20,000, followed by R150,000 and money for flights.
He claimed he provided the money because former Police Minister Bheki Cele had told him Mogotsi was close to Mchunu and that continuing to pay him could establish where the money was going.
Matlala has since fallen out with Mogotsi, telling the commission that he “actually hated him” and that Mogotsi had caused him “a lot of problems”.
He maintained, however, that he could not establish whether Mchunu himself was involved in Mogotsi’s requests for money.
Matlala separately denied ever meeting or interacting with Mchunu, saying his only communication with the suspended minister had been through their respective lawyers.
The evidence also touched on Matlala’s alleged dealings with senior police officials and allegations that he provided benefits to them.
On several questions, particularly those concerning the Medicare24 tender, alleged payments to police officials and financial flows through the company, Matlala declined to answer, saying he feared incriminating himself.
His lawyer, Advocate Annaline van den Heever, argued that several legal issues needed to be resolved before her client could give further evidence, including the scope of the privilege against self-incrimination.
She confirmed that her team would submit a supplementary affidavit and an application in limine, or preliminary legal objections, concerning what she described as her client’s “unique circumstances before the commission”.
The commission subsequently postponed Matlala’s evidence while the legal dispute is being addressed.
Madlanga ordered that Matlala’s supplementary affidavit and application in limine be filed by 10am on Friday.
The evidence leaders’ answering papers are due by 10am on Saturday, with replying papers and heads of argument due by 6pm that day.
Matlala’s testimony will resume on Monday and Tuesday next week and continue on Wednesday if necessary.
Madlanga warned the parties that there would be “no slippages whatsoever” in the filing deadlines.
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