The Madlanga Commission heard this week shocking details of how two senior police officers were wrapped around the hand of suspected crime mastermind Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who pampered them with alleged ill-gotten money and gifts.

Those senior officers were SAPS quality management head, Brigadier Rachel Matjeng, and suspended SAPS Deputy Commissioner General Shadrack Sibiya.

Even more startling was the voluntary revelation by Matjeng, who is among five senior officers to be investigated by a special investigations task team, that she enjoyed Matlala’s alleged criminal proceeds while sharing a bed with him in an “on-and-off” romantic relationship.   

This was interpreted as a confession to the conflict of interest by commissioners, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Adv. Sesi Baloyi, SC, and Adv. Sandile Khumalo, SC, and evidence leader Thabang Pooe, because it suggested that Matjeng was sleeping with a tenderpreneur whose company,  Medicare24 Tshwane District, had a R360 million contract with the SAPS to assist police officers with medical treatment. 

Matjeng is a section head of Quality Management in Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management at the Forensic Services Division in Pretoria.

It was alleged that Matlala gave her R300,000 as a gratification for assisting him to win the SAPS contract, which was cancelled due to allegations of corruption and irregularities.

She, however, denied that Matlala’s payment to her had anything to do with her police duties, instead saying he gave her the money because he was her lover in an extramarital affair.

“The money I received in 2017 was a gift from a boyfriend. None of the gifts or monies from him were related to me having the awarding of the tender or execution. 

“I started receiving them from 2017 while being in our on-and-off relationship,” she told the commissioners. 

However, Pooe did not fall for the romantic relationship story, which she said was a cover-up for receiving bribes in exchange for helping Matlala cut corners when he claimed for Medicare invoices. 

Matjeng also told the commission that she felt sad to hear that National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola had cancelled the tender as, in her view, it was assisting police members, despite the fact that it was rigged with allegations of misconduct, including poor service delivery.

On Tuesday, the commission was shown WhatsApp messages from a Witness F alleging that Matlala blessed Sibiya with impalas.

Witness F confirmed receiving the message in the form of a voice note, which evidence leader Advocate Arthur Chaskalson SC said was extracted from Witness F’s WhatsApp exchanges with Matlala. 

The message, asking where to deliver impalas, was forwarded to Sibiya by Witness F.

On his second day of testifying, on Wednesday, Witness F revealed that Deputy Police Minister Cassel Mathale pressured police to track down blogger, Musa Khawula, for allegedly insulting ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula and businessman Ze Nxumalo. 

Witness F said after receiving a warrant to carry out the arrest of Khawula on the charges of allegedly contravening the Cyber Crime Act, Sibiya  instructed him to share it with Matlala.

Khawula had allegedly posted on X that Mbalula’s wife Nozulo was involved in a R150 million fraud scandal.

He also accused Matlala, his wife Cordelia, and their security company CAT VIP Protection Services of being linked to criminal gang activities.

Upon receiving the message from Witness F, Matlala jumped into action, pledging to assist in tracking down Khawula. 

On Friday, the commission had to deal with a request by businessman and ANC activist Suliman Carrim to have his appearance postponed as he came to the commission’s sitting venue, Bridgette Mabandla Justice College, in Pretoria, unprepared and without a witness statement. 

Carrim is accused of being a link between Matlala and Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, whom President Cyril Ramaphosa forced into a special leave for dissolving the Political Killings Task Team without consultation, and his alleged link with criminal syndicate leaders, including Matlala. 

Carrim came to the commission, accompanied by his legal team, after he failed to convince the Gauteng High Court to interdict the commission’s subpoena for him to answer questions, including on allegations that he received R1.5 million from Matlala for allegedly assisting him with invoices and payments in relation to the Medicare24 contract with the SAPS. 

The week began dramatically on Monday when SAPS ballistics analyst Captain Laurance Makgotloe told the commission that he was kidnapped by armed police officers, who forced him to rectify errors in a ballistic report related to the murder of a Vereeniging engineer, Armand Swart, on April 17, 2024.

The alleged kidnapping happened on January 7 last year after Makgotloe had assisted a police officer, who was identified as Witness B in the commission, to do some corrections in the Swart’s murder ballistics report. 

He said a group of his colleagues took him to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Silverton, seeking case files from the Vereeniging and Bramley investigations despite being denied permission to do so by Brigadier Mishak Mkhabela, the national head of the police ballistics.

“At about 21:00, the group took me in their cars, and I was asked by the male officers if I had my office keys with me, which I confirmed I did. They wanted to stop by my house for me to fetch a jersey, and I refused. I refused to pass by my house due to the safety concerns I had, fearing that it would expose my family to risk, given that I was in the company of illegitimate officers. There were seven of us in the vehicle as we drove to Silverton,” Makgotloe said. 

The commission is expected to resume on Monday.

bongani.hans@inl.co.za

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