Former police minister Bheki Cele said he knew attempted murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala “very well” but did not know his close associate Brown Mogotsi.
Cele on Thursday appeared before parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations of corruption in the criminal justice system.
He told parliament he had heard of Mogotsi through the media but had only met Matlala at the luxurious Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban in December after a raid had been conducted at his premises.
He said he had been introduced to Matlala by Bongani Mpungose, son of KwaZulu-Natal’s notorious taxi boss Sputla Mpungose, saying Matlala wanted to see him to discuss issues he had.
One of the issues was that Matlala felt he was being used for political games he did not understand, Cele said.
“He said he met [police minister Senzo] Mchunu with Mogotsi, and they spoke about him, because he has money through tenders, to fund Mchunu’s project of becoming president or deputy president,” Cele said.
“What puzzled him about wanting to meet me is that he was told by the minister [Mchunu] that they would work together as long as they don’t come close to Cele and [former president Jacob] Zuma. That’s why he said he realised there’s a political game; hence, he wanted to see me.”
In his testimony to parliament recently, Mchunu denied ever meeting Mogotsi and Matlala in one setting.
Another issue Matlala wanted to discuss with Cele was the raid conducted at his premises.
“I asked what happened, and he said they raided him on accusations of drugs.
“I asked, ‘Where do I come in?’ He said he came to me because he realised that he’d been abused.”
Affidavit against crime intelligence boss
After that, Cele said Matlala told him he had been approached by deputy national police commissioner for crime detection Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya to write an affidavit against crime intelligence boss Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo so that Khumalo could be arrested. “Cat told me,” Cele said.
Khumalo was arrested by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), in what KZN police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi described in his testimony before parliament as a politically motivated move.
Cele said Matlala had told him he came to inform him about the case in which he had been told to take Khumalo and his team to court for an “unlawful” raid so that he could lose the case, leading to Sibiya finding a way to get rid of Khumalo from the SAPS.
“He goes on to say he was told the affidavit against Khumalo was written by Sibiya to say they had stolen his Rolex [watch] and his wife’s jewellery. He said they must write that so that it’s not only the raid but also the theft [involved].”
He said he came to me because he didn’t want to take the police to court because he had just got the tender and didn’t want to harm his relationship with the police.
— Bheki Cele, former police minister
Matlala brought the issue to Cele to seek his intervention to ensure Khumalo’s matter was resolved out of court so that he did not jeopardise the contract he had with SAPS.
“He said he came to me because he didn’t want to take the police to court because he had just got the tender and didn’t want to harm his relationship with the police.
“That’s how I know Cat, and I wish I had not met him.”
Cele’s testimony placed him at the centre of the inquiry into covert influence in SAPS. He acknowledged multiple meetings with Matlala, including one at a Zimbali property linked to Tembisa Hospital “tenderpreneur” Hangwani Maumela.
His appearance before the committee on October 23 followed weeks of testimony on the disbanding of the political killings task team, a unit he defended as operationally necessary and procedurally sound.
He rejected the suspended Mchunu’s claim that the task team had been lawfully disestablished in 2022. “Disestablished by whom?” Cele asked, adding that he first saw the disbandment letter on December 31 “when we were all drinking and dancing”.
He said the interministerial committee, not individual ministers, had authority over the unit’s status and that no formal consultation had taken place.
He denied interfering with the investigation or attempting to prevent legal proceedings but acknowledged that he twice slept at Matlala’s apartment and met him several times thereafter.
Cele described Khumalo as “one cop I’ll protect” and said he had known him since 2018, when Khumalo was still a brigadier.
He denied appointing Khumalo to lead the task team, stating that only the national commissioner had that authority.
“The minister of police appoints nobody,” he said. “Even when my relationship with [former national police commissioner Khehla] Sitole was not that warm, he still made operational decisions.”
Warning
Matlala allegedly warned Cele of a plan to arrest him for corruption linked to inflated accommodation costs during the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Cele said Matlala had brought him articles about the matter and claimed that Mchunu and Mogotsi had been behind the effort. Asked why Mchunu would pursue such a course, Cele replied, “He can answer that best.” He denied any business relationship with Matlala. “I don’t agree that he is my friend,” he said.
On the task team’s operational value, Cele rejected Mchunu’s assertion that the unit no longer added value. “Councillors are still under guard. Which means to me, while work has been done, the mission is not complete.”
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