By Johnathan Paoli
Controversial businessman Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala has accused investigators from the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) of fabricating and exaggerating parts of his Section 204 witness statement to implicate former Police Minister Bheki Cele in corruption.
Testifying for a third day at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday, Matlala admitted giving Cele money after he allegedly offered to help him resolve problems arising from the Political Killings Task Team’s (PKTT) raid on his home in 2024, but insisted that IDAC had manipulated the details to secure Cele’s arrest.
“Yes, I saw Cele once at Mr Msibi’s funeral. The guys from IDAC said: ‘No, this won’t be sufficient. You need to create a history as you used to see him with Mr Msibi before, that’s why you were so comfortable going to him, even though you never spoke, so there must be a history.’ That’s why they ended up putting this paragraph here,” Matlala said.
He was referring to allegations in his statement that he had previously encountered Cele at the home of the late alleged Big Five cartel leader and taxi boss Jotham “Mswazi” Msibi, where he claimed to have heard that Msibi was giving the former minister substantial amounts of money.
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Matlala denied this account, saying he had not previously interacted with Cele and that IDAC investigators wanted to establish a relationship between the two men to implicate Cele in organised crime.
He maintained that their first meaningful interaction came in December 2024, after the late popular businessman Sphamandla Mabonga, arranged a meeting between them in Durban.
Matlala said he was experiencing difficulties following the PKTT raid on his home, during which firearms and other valuables were seized.
He wanted assistance in resolving the matter and recovering his property.
According to his testimony, Cele subsequently contacted senior police officials, including Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, about the matter.
Matlala confirmed that Cele had made a call in which he told an official that if “the mountain does not come, Mohamed will go to the mountain”.
But he disputed several allegations in his IDAC statement about Cele’s involvement in his R360-million Medicare24 police health services contract.
In the statement, Matlala claimed Cele had offered to intervene in the contract dispute and had told him that suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu was wrong to involve himself in operational SAPS matters.
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Matlala also claimed Cele had offered to arrange meetings with senior police officials to prevent the contract from being terminated.
He now alleges that investigators inserted these details to implicate other senior police figures, including Khumalo, SAPS legal services head Simo Chamane and Major-General Sandrah Malebe-Thema.
Matlala nevertheless admitted that he paid money to Cele, although he disputed the amounts and the reasons recorded in his statement.
“I did give Cele money, but that money was exaggerated, and then they wanted to charge him with corruption. I remember even when I refused to make the plea, they were very angry because they said they were supposed to go in and arrest him. So now they couldn’t because that 204 falls off on him and other people,” he said.
He told the commission that Cele was among several people IDAC intended to arrest after he concluded the plea agreement, which collapsed when he rejected a proposed 12-year prison sentence.
Matlala said he believed the investigators were relying on his statement to build cases against several senior police officials.
He also disputed the allegation that Cele had demanded R1-million to resolve his Medicare24 contract problems, saying Mabonga had told him the money was for assistance in getting his firearms returned.
However, Matlala confirmed that he had given Cele R200,000 in cash and subsequently R300,000.
He also acknowledged that his companies had made payments into an account nominated for Mabonga, who had arranged the meetings.
He said Cele had repeatedly asked him for money, including wanting him to purchase a property in Trafalgar, KwaZulu-Natal, where the former minister allegedly hoped to retire.
According to Matlala, Cele sent him pictures of the property, which was being sold for R6-million, and suggested that his son, an engineer, could invoice him to explain the payments.
Matlala further testified that Cele wanted another R300,000 to repair his vehicle and his wife’s vehicle.
He said he eventually stopped answering Cele’s calls after becoming uncomfortable with the repeated requests for money.
He maintained that the former minister preferred cash payments rather than electronic transfers.
Matlala also accused former IDAC head Andrea Johnson of relying on his statement for her scheduled appearance before the commission in July.
He claimed investigators became angry when he abandoned the plea agreement because they had expected to use his evidence to pursue Cele and others.
Johnson missed her scheduled appearance on 13 July after being hospitalised following what was reported as a panic attack.
Matlala said investigators had told him their boss was relying on his statement to testify at the commission.
The commission continues.
