Tender tycoon Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala was arrested on Wednesday by the crime intelligence unit in Midrand for an alleged attempted murder of television actress and social media influencer Tebogo Thobejane.
Sunday World understands that Matlala will also face a charge of conspiracy to commit murder when he appears at the Alexandra magistrate’s court on Thursday afternoon.
He is expected to appear in court alongside two co-accused.
In April, this publication broke the story that a Gauteng businessman suspected of being the mastermind behind the gruesome murder of whistleblower Babita Deokaran was being criminally investigated for allegedly organising a hit on Thobejane.
At the time, Sunday World could not name the tycoon, as he was reportedly under criminal investigation for tender corruption at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa).
Incriminating messages
Well-placed sources close to Thobejane’s investigation alleged that the crime intelligence unit members who were investigating the man’s alleged involvement in looting Prasa obtained a search and seizure warrant against him.
The police officers then descended on his houses in Pretoria and Johannesburg, combing them for possible incriminating evidence.
The police found and confiscated his cellphone, said the source.
They downloaded the contents of the phone and stumbled upon WhatsApp messages between the businessman and hitmen who were arrested in connection with an attempt on Thobejane’s life.
It is alleged that in one of the messages, the businessman told the assassins to “shoot her in the face so that her family doesn’t recognise her”.
N1 highway attack
Thobejane and her friend were ambushed on the N1 highway near Sandton when a car they were travelling in was sprayed with bullets in October 2023.
Thobejane, who acted in the Tshivenda soap opera Muvhango, was shot in the foot, while her friend sustained a gunshot wound to the spinal cord.
Thobejane has recuperated, but her friend is still languishing at the hospital, facing the prospect of never being able to walk again.
A source told Sunday World that the police also chanced upon proof of payment that the businessman sent to hitmen to carry out the hit.
“I can’t remember the amount, but the police found the proof of payment,” said the source.
It is not known why the businessman wanted Thobejane dead, but Sunday World understands they had known each other for a while.
Also Read: Suspected Babita hit mastermind probed for Tebogo Thobejane’s attempted murder
