‘State capture in its purest form’: MK Party demands arrest of Maumela, Matlala following SIU report
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) has called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Morgan Hangwani Maumela and Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, following their implication in large-scale corruption at Tembisa Hospital as detailed in the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) interim report.
The party described the findings as confirmation of “state capture in its purest and most dangerous form,” accusing senior politicians and state institutions of enabling a criminal syndicate that looted public funds intended for healthcare services.
Responding to the SIU’s findings, which implicate businessman Matlala and former Presidential Protection Services officer Maumela in fraudulent and irregular state contracts, the MK Party said the scale of corruption unearthed confirmed the existence of “a well-oiled, highly connected criminal syndicate that has taken root inside the state.”
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said the report vindicates the late whistle-blower Babita Deokaran, who was assassinated in 2021 after flagging suspicious procurement transactions at Tembisa Hospital.
“The report not only vindicates the heroic whistleblowing of the late Babita Deokaran, but it also lays bare the full scale of systemic rot entrenched in the health sector, rot that has been protected, sanitised and enabled by elements of the state itself,” said Ndhlela.
The SIU confirmed it had handed over a prosecution-ready case to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), but the MK Party warned that the time for further investigation had passed, saying the matter now required decisive action from the criminal justice system.
“This is not a matter of further investigation; it is a matter of action. The people of South Africa can no longer tolerate selective prosecution, endless delays or protection of politically connected individuals by compromised elements within our criminal justice system,” said Ndhlela.
He added that the idea of low-level officials being the masterminds behind the corruption was “an insult to the intelligence of our people,” saying the billions lost through irregular contracts could not have happened without the involvement of senior politicians and government leaders.
“The continued narrative that ‘procurement clerks’ are the masterminds behind this looting spree is a smokescreen, designed to shield senior politicians, MECs and national government leaders who are either complicit or grossly negligent,” he said.
Describing the entrenched corruption as “criminal cartels embedded in our government structures,” Ndhlela accused law enforcement and judicial institutions of enabling these networks through inaction.
“Babita Deokaran was assassinated because she dared to speak out against this mafia,” he said, adding that the failure to act on the evidence she left behind was an “indictment on the NPA, on the Hawks and on every complicit officeholder who has sat on their hands while criminals flourish.”
The MK Party has demanded the immediate arrest of Maumela and new charges against Matlala based on the SIU’s findings.
It has also called for a full public investigation into the role of senior government officials who may have facilitated or overseen the corrupt transactions, and for the matter to be urgently brought before an Ad Hoc Committee in Parliament.
Ndhlela said whistle-blowers like Deokaran must be better protected, calling for “more stringent measures to ensure protection against possible victimisation and murder, including protective and legal support.”
“We stand today in the spirit of Babita Deokaran, not just to remember her sacrifice, but to finish the fight she began,” he said.
hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za
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