By Marcus Moloko
South Africa may have avoided a potential national security scandal after the collapse of an alleged business plan involving controversial tenderpreneur and alleged underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and OR Tambo International Airport.
An investigative report by News24 this week uncovered Matlala’s proposal for a luxury private terminal, named The Green Lounge, which would have allowed selected individuals to bypass immigration and security checks.
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The plan promised fine dining, smoking rooms, and sleep pods for wealthy clients.
Had the scheme succeeded, Matlala would have gained extraordinary power in the form of control over who entered and exited the country.
His employees, not state officials, would have overseen security screening at one of South Africa’s most critical national key points.
This arrangement would have effectively privatised border control, opening dangerous channels for fast-tracking individuals, which could include suspected drug cartel figures.
Investigative journalist Jeff Wicks, who broke the story, has described Matlala as a man with “ambitions about wealth”.
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In a Newzroom Afrika interview, Wicks said documents revealed that Matlala sought R70 million annually from Nedbank to fund the project.
Meetings were held, and plans reached advanced stages before the scheme collapsed, according to Wicks.
With Matlala’s history of alleged fraud in state procurement at Tembisa Hospital and SAPS, his control over airport security would have represented a concerning fusion of criminal enterprise and state access.
His suspected ties to drug cartels amplified the risk as the country’s borders could have been compromised, allowing illicit networks to operate with impunity.
Matlala is currently imprisoned in Kokstad’s super‑maximum prison.
He and several co-accused have been charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, fraud, and defeating the ends of justice, in relation to three separate shooting incidents between August 2022 and January 2024.
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