By Johnathan Paoli
The Madlanga Commission on Monday grilled Gauteng organised crime sergeant Fannie Nkosi over contradictions in his account of how he came to possess the Luxor bank credit card of attempted murder accused businessman and alleged underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, and how it was used.
On his eighth day before the commission, Nkosi was questioned about a statement he made to police during a raid on his home on 8 October 2025, when the card – alleged to be part of a bribery scheme – was found, and how this contradicted other versions given by him.
He admitted to sending Matlala a picture of the card in question on 23 December 2024, after finding it in a jet ski he had transported to Hartebeespoort Dam, following the death of taxi boss Jotham “King Mswazi” Msibi.
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He said he had used the card to buy a jet ski service kit and battery, after the commission considered financial statements of three withdrawals on the same day.
Evidence leader advocate Matthew Chaskalson said Nkosi’s versions differed on whether he found the card on his own or after being alerted to it by Matlala, whether he discovered it in September or December 2024, and whether he found it while travelling back from Limpopo or only after the jet ski had been returned to Hartbeespoort Dam.
Nkosi attributed all three discrepancies to “human error”, insisting that while dates and sequences may be confused, the “substance” of his account remained accurate.
Chaskalson pressed the point that the inconsistencies were not isolated, but repeated across Nkosi’s handwritten affidavit, typed statement, and oral testimony.
Nkosi told the commission that Matlala urgently needed the card because he was due to meet Deputy President Paul Mashatile and suspended Deputy Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya.
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However, Chaskalson highlighted that this crucial detail does not appear anywhere in Nkosi’s formal statement submitted to the commission.
“I don’t know why I have not mentioned that. But I remember going back to that statement that I’ve said that I might have mistakenly thought that I wrote it here but it was all in my mind,” Nkosi replied.
Chaskalson suggested that Nkosi may have deliberately withheld the information.
He asked whether Nkosi was attempting to protect Mashatile, an allegation Nkosi firmly denied.
The cross-examination escalated further when Chaskalson put it to Nkosi that the card may have been used as part of a bribery scheme.
He suggested that Matlala gave Nkosi the card so that cash could be withdrawn either for Nkosi’s personal benefit or to be passed on to Sibiya.
“You see I have my own theory about what that card was about. My theory is that that card was given to you by Mr. Matlala as a means of allowing you to draw cash from Mr. Matlala’s accounts. In other words, essentially to pay a bribe either to you or to General Sibiya through you,” Chaskalson said.
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Nkosi rejected the allegation outright, telling the commission he had no reason to receive a bribe from Matlala and had never done anything that would warrant such payment.
“If it was a bribe, I don’t think that maybe I would be so dumb to let the paperwork follow me if it was a bribe. Because automatically if it was going to be investigated, I was going to be caught that indeed it was a bribe for General Sibiya,” he said.
But Chaskalson introduced bank statements showing that between 10 and 12 December 2024, withdrawals totalling R37,000 were made using the card.
Nkosi said he could not recall making those withdrawals and insisted that the card was in Matlala’s possession at the time, which Chaskalson argued was incompatible with Nkosi’s own timeline of events.
He said Nkosi’s role mirrored a pattern in which he allegedly acted as an intermediary between Matlala and Sibiya, which proved consistent with other transactions before the commission, where communication and exchanges were routed through Nkosi rather than conducted directly.
Commission Chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga criticised Nkosi for “sitting on the fence”, noting a pattern where the witness appeared to adjust his version when confronted with inconsistencies.
The commission continues.