By Johnathan Paoli
Alleged crime kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala testified on Wednesday that former police minister Bheki Cele lied under oath when he appeared before Parliament’s ad hoc committee.
Matlala also told the committee he paid Cele R300,000 at his apartment in January 2025 and a further R200,000 at a hotel in March.
He said the payments were meant to thank Cele for assisting in the return of his seized firearms and easing police pressure on his properties.
“I made an initial payment of R300,000 in cash to former Minister Cele at my residence in Pretoria, around January. I handed over the money while he was inside my apartment,” said, quoting his draft statement to the ad hoc committee.
“This was after he told me they needed gratification, which he called a “facilitation fee,” related to his role in returning my firearms and stopping the harassment. He also implied that he was not acting alone, which explained why such a large sum was required.”
Matlala further added: “I made a second cash payment of R200 000 to Cele around March 2025 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.”
Cele, in earlier testimony, told the committee that during their December meeting, Matlala claimed KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Sibiya had instructed him to fabricate theft allegations against PKTT officers, but that he refused because of his SAPS contract.
Matlala, however, stuck to his version, insisting he paid Cele the R500,000 in two instalments and declining to elaborate on the purpose of the funds.
Evidence leader and senior counsel Arendse then pressed Matlala to clarify earlier testimony relating to his companies.
While Medicare24 Tshwane District won the controversial R360 million SAPS health services tender, it was not the company linked to the looting of Tembisa Hospital.
Instead, another Matlala-owned firm, Black AK Trading, submitted the quotations identified by slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran shortly before her murder. Matlala confirmed the distinction.
The discussion then shifted to evidence from the Madlanga Commission, which had highlighted Matlala’s frustration with the challenges he faced in accessing a clinic facility at the police college.
He denied this issue was connected to his SAPS health tender, saying his own investigations uncovered potentially corrupt relationships between police officers and doctors using the clinic without a lease agreement.
He said this prompted him to approach Deputy Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya for an investigation. Public Works later instructed the doctors to vacate the premises.
Arendse questioned him extensively about his engagements with Sibiya, noting that earlier evidence suggested a close relationship.
Witnesses told the Madlanga Commission that shortly after his arrest for attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend, Matlala told police he had paid Sibiya millions in cash after the deputy national commissioner allegedly asked him to “take care of him.”
Confronted with this, Matlala maintained his first contact with Sibiya was simply to escalate concerns about the police college facility.
He claimed he found Sibiya’s email address online and wrote to him, warning he would seek legal recourse if SAPS failed to address the lease issue.
Sibiya agreed to a meeting, which Matlala attended with his lawyer; Sibiya attended alone.
Matlala said he met Sibiya again in February 2024 but could not recall whether Sibiya was still serving as acting commissioner at that time.
He said the second meeting also focused on the clinic.
A later meeting concerned the kidnapping of businessman and farmer Jerry Boshoga — a close friend — which Sibiya initiated as the head of detectives leading the investigation.
Despite this sequence of interactions, Matlala denied the existence of any relationship with Sibiya.
However, evidence before the Madlanga Commission suggested otherwise. PKTT investigator Witness C testified that in recordings, Matlala repeatedly referred to Sibiya as a criminal.
In another recording, Matlala allegedly described giving Sibiya R200,000 in cash in the general’s office, placing the money in a bathroom as instructed.
Witness C also testified that Matlala claimed both Sibiya and KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Lesetja Senona helped him obtain the R360 million tender, though he did not explain how.
Matlala downplayed these accounts, insisting his meetings with Sibiya were limited and professional.
He confirmed he knew Hawks boss Senona.
Witness C had previously testified that Matlala said Senona played a role in helping him secure the tender.
The testimony suggested Matlala regarded Senona as a key ally in his dealings with senior police leadership.
Questioned on this, Matlala insisted any interaction with Senona was strictly professional and related to the tender.
He denied any improper relationship while acknowledging familiarity between them.
The committee also spent significant time reconstructing the dramatic 6 December 2024 raid on Matlala’s Pretoria mansion.
He said the raid occurred late in the afternoon as he was in the bedroom with his wife.
Masked men stormed in, ordered them to the floor, demanded to know how many people were inside, seized their cellphones, and repeatedly asked, “Where is Jerry?”
Matlala said he initially believed they were criminals because they wore balaclavas and refused to produce a warrant. Only one identified himself — a “Colonel Khumalo.” Police seized firearms belonging to his bodyguards, his own weapon, several watches, and laptops.
The following morning he attempted to open a case at Brooklyn police station but was turned away.
In testimony before the Madlanga Commission, Witness C said investigators believed Boshoga had been held in one of the rooms in Matlala’s home after finding a distinctive torn white sheet matching the backdrop of ransom videos sent to Boshoga’s family.
A second raid followed weeks later, after which fixer Brown Mogotsi contacted Matlala claiming to be calling from the minister’s office. Mogotsi told him to open a case at Protea police station.
Matlala admitted he did not know Mogotsi but accepted the assistance because he was desperate.
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