Businessperson and attempted murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala is allegedly linked to an international drug trafficking syndicate and used top police officers and politicians to avoid prosecution, SAPS head of crime intelligence Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo testified on Monday.
Matlala’s company Medicare24 was also awarded a R360m SA Police Service (SAPS) tender that was later cancelled after an investigation ordered by police minister Senzo Mchunu.
Khumalo told the Madlanga commission that after a failed attempt to prevent the SAPS from cancelling the Medicare24 tender, national commissioner Fannie Masemola annulled it in May.
The company had been rendering services to SAPS for years on a tender that stemmed from former minister Bheki Cele’s tenure.
Matlala was arrested on May 14 on a charge of attempted murder after the KwaZulu-Natal political killings task team and Gauteng counter-intelligence operations raided his house.
Appearing before the commission for the first time on Monday, Khumalo testified that Matlala was in communication with senior police officers, including KwaZulu-Natal directorate for priority crime investigation provincial (Hawks) head Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona and Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi.
Khumalo said Senona’s son, Thato, had business ventures with Matlala.
‘Big five’ cartel
He told the commission that Matlala and murder accused and businessman Katiso Molefe were part of a “big five” cartel, allegedly involved in drug trafficking, extortion, vehicle hijacking, cross-border vehicle theft and tender fraud.
He said Matlala bankrolled politicians and used police officers to protect the operations of the cartel from prosecution.
“The cartels are a significant threat to the national security of the country and our economic prosperity. There is one cartel that has been identified, known as the big five, that is very sophisticated and has widespread influence,” he said.
Khumalo said the cartel, though based in Gauteng, operated throughout the country, including the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The cartels are a significant threat to the national security of the country and our economic prosperity.
— Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo
SAPS head of crime intelligence
“The main commodity of the cartel is drug trafficking, and it is coupled with contract killings. The big five have already penetrated the political sphere and there are documented cases of high-profile connections in the political arena.”
The political arena was not the only sphere infiltrated.
“It is an ongoing effort to cultivate relationships with politicians, law enforcement officers and business leaders within the operational area of the cartel that is done solely to sustain the operations of the cartels,” he said.
“By securing allies within the judiciary and law enforcement officials as well as political figures at various levels … the cartel can manipulate the investigations, suppress evidence, and obstruct legal proceedings that threaten their activities.”
The infiltration in the justice cluster and political offices has been mapped out in Matlala’s phone records, which Khumalo will describe to the commission from Tuesday.
Matlala’s chats, which will be publicly shared, include his communication with police minister Senzo Mchunu’s connection Brown Mogotsi, Senona, Mkhwanazi, fraud investigator Calvin Rafadi and businessperson Suliman Kareem.
Evidence leader Adila Hassim said implicated persons would be notified to enable them to respond.
“The chats will confirm that one of Matlala’s employees made a payment to Mogotsi … for expenses related to ANC events, in particular for the benefit of delegates who are apparently linked to minister Mchunu through the chief of staff [Cedrick] Nkabinde in the minister’s office,” Khumalo said.
In return, Mogotsi used his influence in the SAPS and the police ministry to manipulate and frustrate criminal investigations into Matlala, Khumalo contended.
Police information leaked to Matlala
“Mogotsi also leaked highly confidential and classified SAPS' information to Matlala. He co-ordinated the payments from SAPS to Medicare24, a company owned by Matlala.
“Mogotsi, in the mistaken belief that an investigation into Matlala was being conducted by the political killings task team, pursued the disestablishment [of the task team]. It was a [case of] mistaken identity.”
He said the probe into Matlala was headed by the Gauteng counter-intelligence team, assisted by the political killings task team.
Khumalo implicated deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya in a plan to have disciplinary action taken against him.
“He [Mogotsi] has sought to find means of having me subjected to criminal or disciplinary proceedings. Mogotsi purports to have been acting in this regard with the support of the minister of police, chief of staff [Nkabinde], and deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya.”
Khumalo faces charges of nepotism. He was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport on June 26 after the arrest of crime intelligence CFO Maj-Gen Philani Lushaba on charges of perjury, corruption and defeating the ends of justice. Both are out on bail.
The chats demonstrate organised crime has managed to infiltrate the SAPS and the EMPD at the highest level.
Senona also allegedly leaked confidential SAPS documents to Matlala, Khumalo told the commission.
“Rafadi and Kareem appear to [have been] paid by Matlala for their access to senior SAPS members and their ability to advance the same goals as those pursued by Mogotsi and to leak sensitive SAPS documents to Matlala,” he said.
“The chats demonstrate organised crime has managed to infiltrate the SAPS and the EMPD at the highest level.”
Khumalo said his evidence would show “the role criminal cartels played to close down the political killings task team”.
“It is my view that the attempt to disband the political killings task team was due to the influence of a particular organised crime cartel over the ministry of police as well as the SAPS.”
The disbanding of the task team by Mchunu on December 31 2024 is central to the commission’s probe into KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s allegations of political and criminal syndicates’ interference in SAPS operations and the justice system.
The probe, established by President Cyril Ramaphosa, is chaired by retired Constitutional Court justice Mbuyisile Madlanga, with advocates Sesi Baloyi and Sandile Khumalo.
The hearings continue on Tuesday.
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