M Moloko
A former Ekurhuleni municipal official Xolani Nciza, in an explosive eNCA interview, has revealed the extent of controversial Gauteng businessman Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala’s influence over security agencies, exposing how he defrauded many to gain benefits meant only for senior municipal officials.
Nciza, the former Head of Employee Relations at Ekurhuleni, said that Matlala gained access to several official vehicles after making suspicious donations to the metro.
The latest revelations against Matlala comes just a day after National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola testified that he was pressured to dissolve the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) and warned by a whistleblower about the close relationship between his deputy [Deputy National Police Commissioner for Crime Detection, Shadrack Sibiya] and Matlala.
As Masemola’s testimony continued on Tuesday, more ‘concerned parties’ began connecting the dots, publicly detailing how Matlala not only accessed sensitive information but also used official vehicles meant for senior government officials.
Nciza confirmed that in February 2023, the City of Ekurhuleni was alerted to a media exposé about Matlala’s use of official blue lights.
The report linked his companies to contracts worth R5 million and alleged misuse of blue-light convoys for airport trips and even school runs.
He added that the metro’s internal affairs unit subsequently launched a formal investigation into the matter.
“The metro’s internal affairs conducted an investigation. The investigation indeed revealed that there was some malfeasance that had happened,” said Nciza.
“That malfeasance was orchestrated through an alleged donation that Matlala’s company, Cat VIP Services, had made to the municipality. Now that donation had not transpired.”
According to Nciza, the so-called donation never materialised and the vehicles were never officially handed over.
“There was no handover of the vehicles to the municipality. There was never a process where the vehicles became part of the asset register of the municipality,” he said.
“The investigation then proved that that did not happen. There was no handover of the vehicles. There was no actual donation, but the vehicles were registered under the municipality. When we continued with the investigation, the vehicles were then re-registered into Cat Matlala’s company.”
Nciza said the probe led to the suspension of Commissioner Julius Mkhwanazi, then-Director of Specialised Services and acting Chief of Police of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD).
“We took a decision to suspend then Director of Specialized Services director Mr Julius Mkhwanazi. We concluded the investigation and appointed a law firm to prosecute him. Charges were drafted. When we were supposed to serve the charges, we were blocked from serving the charges,” said Nciza.
He also detailed how attempts to move forward were shut down internally.
“When the lawyers submitted the charge sheet to me. I called my manager, who deals with the process of serving charges to employees. This official contacted Mr [Julius] Mkhwanazi, who then contacted the Ekurhuleni City manager, Dr Imogen Mashazi. Then an instruction was issued to the HR head at Ekurhuleni, Linda Gxashega, to stop serving of charges,” said Nciza.
Nciza said in essence, Mkhwanazi was never charged despite his transgressions.
“We had a charge sheet, and we still have the charge sheet, but the powers that be said no,” he said.
He added that a straightforward disciplinary process was also derailed, creating serious risks for the municipality.
“You have vehicles in the municipality’s name. If those vehicles are involved in any criminality, including traffic violations, those traffic violations will then be subject to the municipality, instead of that person being held accountable. Most importantly, blue lights. Blue lights are a serious matter. You can’t have a civilian who is driving in blue lights. Allowing a private company to drive vehicles with blue lights is extremely dangerous—it misleads the public and puts civilians at risk. They can stop me at night.”
Nciza also revealed that four luxury vehicles – a BMW X5, a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, a BMW 3 Series, and a VW Golf GTI – were registered to Cat Security Services and linked to Matlala.
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