KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said former police minister Bheki Cele and controversial Gauteng tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala exchanged monies sometime last year.
Mkhwanazi was speaking on Friday during the third day of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into criminality, political interference and corruption held at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria.
The commission is chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
WhatsApp communication
During his testimony on Friday, Mkhwanazi told evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello SC that when members of the Gauteng Organised Crime Unit, assisted by the KZN SAPS political killings task team, downloaded contents of Matlala’s cellphone in December 2024, they found WhatsApp communication between Cele and Matlala.
“From December 2024, Matlala and Cele were communicating. They have a close relationship. And there was even an exchange of monies between the two of them,” said Mkhwanazi.
Mkhwanazi concluded his testimony on Friday, after testifying for three days since Wednesday.
The inquiry’s first witness, he testified about the work of the KZN SAPS political killings task team. And also on criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system.
After Mkhwanazi concluded his testimony, Madlanga adjourned the proceedings and said the commission will resume with its proceedings on Monday at 9.30am.
Matlala’s R360m SAPS tender
The revelations come after Mkhwanazi, in an explosive media briefing on July 6, said Matlala was awarded an SAPS tender worth more than R360-million in 2024.
Mkhwanazi went on to say that on May 13, national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola cancelled the SAPS tender awarded to Matlala.
The tender was cancelled a day before Matlala’s arrest for attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend.
Meanwhile, Matlala (49) is charged alongside his wife Tsakani (36), two alleged hitmen, Musa Kekana (35) and Tiego Floyd Mabusela (47), and Nthabiseng Nzama (23) for the attempted murder of Matlala’s ex-lover Tebogo Thobejane.
Nzama is Mabusela’s daughter.
Attempted murder charges
The five accused are facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, fraud, and money laundering. These are in connection with the alleged hit on Thobejane.
Tsakani and Nzama are out on R20, 000 and R10, 000 bail, respectively. Kekana and Mabusela abandoned their bail applications. They remain in police custody.
Matlala was denied bail on Wednesday by the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court. He remains in police custody at the Kgosi Mampuru correctional centre in Pretoria.
The case of the five accused returns to the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on October 7 2025.
