Police minister Senzo Mchunu has confirmed receiving a message asking him to stall investigations into irregularities in a R360m SA Police Service (SAPS) tender won by attempted murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s company.
The text was apparently sent to him by North West entrepreneur and ANC regional leader in the province Suleiman Carrim.
On Wednesday, Mchunu told a parliamentary committee probing allegations of criminal syndicate infiltration in the security cluster that he received the message requesting to delay the probe but maintained he did not respond to it.
Carrim’s name initially surfaced in the Madlanga inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption in the justice system, chaired by retired constitutional court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga and his co-panelists, advocates Sesi Baloyi and Sandile Khumalo.
The testimony linking Carrim was pinned on Matlala’s phone records.
Carrim told Matlala in May he sent the minister a message which read: “Good morning, minister. I just received a call from our guy, who’s a service provider for our health risk management project; he’s got very serious concerns. Apparently, you gave a directive to scrutinise his contract, and while they are at it, they must stall as much as they can to release purchase orders until you guys come up with something that can warrant the termination of the service.”
In December 2024, Mchunu instructed police management to probe the Medicare24 (owned by Matlala) contract after he received a report from a whistleblower.
The minister has testified that he has never met Matlala.
Carrim told Matlala the minister “called” him after the message.
The parliament committee evidence leader, advocate Norman Arendse, asked Mchunu on Wednesday whether he knew Carrim.
The minister said, “It could be a person I may have met once or something like that.”
Arendse read him the message said to have been sent to him and Mchunu said he remembered receiving the message, “but I did not respond to such a message”.
ANC MP Xola Nqola asked the minister whether he made the call to Carrim after receiving the message.
“I do not recall making a call to him, but I may need to look at what you are talking about. But I remember getting a message,” Mchunu said in his response.
EFF leader Julius Malema asked whether the Carrim referred to in the inquiry was not an ANC regional leader in the North West. Mchunu did not directly confirm.
“That is why I am saying this is somebody I may have met, but I cannot say this is a person I know or would identify when he comes here. I may have met him not more than once,” he said.
The chats between Carrim and Matlala reveal Matlala paid R1.5m into a business account linked to the ANC member on February 4. This was after Matlala’s company, Medicare24, was paid R2.5m by SAPS.
A secret witness statement detailed how Carrim assisted Matlala with tender invoices submitted to SAPS.
On the same day Carrim was paid, he told Matlala that “Morgan is sorted.”
Evidence leader Adila Hassim said Morgan was possibly a reference to businessperson Hangwani Morgan Maumela, with whom Matlala also communicated via WhatsApp.
Maumela’s companies were flagged by slain state official Babita Deokaran for suspected tender corruption at Tembisa Hospital. Maumela’s family trust amassed more than R2.3bn in state tenders.
Further evidence on Maumela would be heard in-camera, Hassim told the commission.
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