By Johnathan Paoli
The parliamentary Police Ad Hoc Committee has again sought to distinguish suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu from the controversial Medicare24 tender, with MPs noting that he intervened to stop further payments to Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala’s company.
Meeting virtually on Tuesday, the committee resumed deliberations on its draft report, with members debating how Mchunu’s role should be reflected in the report, which is expected to be finalised next month.
Patriotic Alliance MP Ashley Sauls and Umkhonto weSizwe Party MP David Skosana argued that Mchunu should not be implicated in the awarding or administration of the tender.
They instead pointed to SAPS financial management structures and the role of its chief financial officer and current acting national commissioner, Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane.
Skosana said the committee should formally record that Mchunu had stopped payments linked to the contract.
“What I wanted to raise is that Minister Senzo Mchunu stopped these payments, and indeed I must say, and I must concede that the minister did very well when it comes to that matter of payment and stopping that. Honourable Ashley Sauls also raised that in one of our meetings,” he said.
Skosana said the committee had previously discussed payments made to Medicare24 and argued that responsibility for preventing further expenditure lay with SAPS officials responsible for financial oversight.
He specifically referred to Dimpane, who was the SAPS chief financial officer when the committee examined the tender, saying the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) placed clear obligations on the police’s financial management structures.
“If you remember the issue of the company made in 2024, the payments which were made up to R50 million. The payment should not have been made, should not have happened in line with the PFMA and should have been reported to the Treasury,” Skosana said.
“For the money to be paid up to R50 million, it was completely against the PFMA,” he added.
Skosana said this was particularly significant because Dimpane had appeared before the committee alongside Matlala when MPs travelled to Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre for hearings.
“As a CFO, the PFMA is very clear on that matter,” he said.
He said the issue needed to be placed on record because Mchunu had been drawn into controversies surrounding the tender despite, in his view, not being responsible for its award or subsequent payments.
“I think the Minister is completely being dragged into something which has nothing to do with him,” Skosana said.
The Medicare24 contract, awarded in June 2024 to Matlala’s Medicare24 Tshwane District, was advertised as a R360-million SAPS health-risk management contract.
SAPS later cancelled the contract after irregularities were identified, but more than R50 million had been paid to Matlala’s company before its termination.
The tender has since become a central feature of both the parliamentary inquiry and the criminal case involving Matlala and senior police officials.
The National Prosecuting Authority alleges that Treasury regulations were violated and that Matlala’s company was improperly favoured during the procurement process.
Mchunu previously told Parliament that he first became aware of the R360-million tender through a News24 report in December 2024.
He said he asked then-national police commissioner Fannie Masemola about it and subsequently received a briefing on 24 December, during which internal auditors told him the tender was irregular and should be cancelled.
Masemola was later charged under the PFMA in connection with the tender, but the charges were withdrawn on Tuesday.
The Economic Freedom Fighters and Inkatha Freedom Party were not represented at Tuesday’s meeting.
The committee adjourned for the day and is expected to continue deliberations on its draft report on Wednesday.
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