Inside Cops, Idac clash over Cat

A tug of war over which detention facility houses controversial businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala has pitted the SAPS against the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), the special prosecution unit in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Matlala faces charges linked to a R360 million healthcare contract the police awarded to his company Medicare24 and the attempted murder of his former lover Tebogo Thobejane.
Matlala has admitted to tender-rigging and corruption.
The NPA and Matlala’s defence team had initially agreed to a sentence of 15 years, with
7 years suspended, which would have resulted in 8 years’ direct imprisonment.
But Magistrate Ignatius du Preez of the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Pretoria has countered the plea agreement, instead recommending that a direct prison sentence of 12 years behind bars would be just and appropriate.
Sunday World understands that a deeper institutional conflict is at play over which prison Matlala is in, who controls him, how his plea deal was stuck and who gets regular access to him while he awaits his fate.
Sources close to the developments say Idac allegedly moved to secure Matlala’s cooperation after he was first arrested by the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT), a multi-disciplinary investigative unit the SAPS established in 2018 to investigate politically motivated murders.
Initially incarcerated inside the ultra-maximum unit at Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre, Matlala was moved to eBongweni Super Maximum Correctional Centre in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, at the request of the PKTT – a move that exposed deep-seated divisions between the elite police unit fronted by KZN police chief Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and Idac.

The dispute between the two state organs has morphed into a covert tug of war over which correctional facility is better placed to house him.
The PKTT wanted him kept at eBongweni, where he was allegedly being held under strict arrangements intended to limit his ability to communicate with anyone outside the facility, a move they argue prevents further criminal activity or interference with witnesses and
investigations.
However, Sunday World has seen letters from Idac officials requesting that Matlala be moved back to Kgosi Mampuru in Pretoria.
In a letter to correctional services boss Samuel Thobakgale, dated March 31, Idac head Andrea Johnson writes: “This office hereby requests the intervention of the national commissioner to ensure that the above-named awaiting-trial prisoner is transferred from eBongweni Super Max prison to Kgosi Mampuru C-Max
on 6th April 2026 to enable a timely court appearance on the 7th April 2026 at the Pretoria magistrate’s court.
“The prisoner was kept at Kgosi Mampuru prison until 28 March 2026 but was moved to eBongweni Super Max despite his warrant of detention stipulating his stay to continue at Kgosi Mampuru prison until 7 April 2026.
“Idac must state that given the fact that the accused was removed before the consultations with Idac and his legal representative were completed, Idac will again request the court to order that he be detained at Kgosi Mampuru correctional facility from 7th April 2026 up to 20th April 2026.”
Insiders say Idac’s move is not purely administrative; it is driven by the anti-corruption unit’s need to gain the upper hand in how Matlala’s plea bargain is structured.
Sources say Matlala was promised a more lenient plea bargain offer if he cooperated with Idac’s investigation into the SAPS healthcare contract.
Some have questioned whether Idac acted lawfully in seeking Matlala’s placement in Pretoria or whether it used prosecutorial pressure to secure access to a high-value accused person who was under the control of another investigative team.
After Matlala was successfully moved to Pretoria, Idac had unrestricted access to him, culminating in the plea deal.
This has not gone down well with the PKTT.
In a tense standoff in June involving KZN police boss and crime intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo – after rumours surfaced that Idac was planning to have them charged –Mkhwanazi, in an interview with Newzroom Afrika, expressed his unhappiness at Idac’s handling of Matlala.
“South Africans know that Mr Matlala was taken to prison by the South African Police Service (PKTT), not Idac, and he has been in custody for close to a year.
“When the Madlanga commission requested that Mr Matlala to come to Gauteng for consultation, the team transported him to Pretoria. On the day of consultation with the commission, Idac walked into the DSC facility to charge him.”
Mkhwanazi further expressed frustration at requests from Idac to consult Matlala outside prison. “It became clear that there are some malicious things. We know that Cat Matlala is forever out of prison because of the consultations that they are busy with.”

In a letter sent to Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre, dated May 6, Idac chief investigator Dylan Perumal urgently requests that Matlala be released on May 8 and the day after that for consultation.
Immediately thereafter, news broke of Matlala entering a plea deal with the state.
Responding to questions, SAPS spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe told Sunday World: “The SAPS is not engaged in any conflict with Idac. Following the arrest of Mr Matlala, Idac approached [the] SAPS and requested access to his cellular phones. [The SAPS] fully cooperated. However, when Idac [charged] Mr Matlala, it did not communicate or coordinate with the SAPS members who had initially arrested him.”
Idac refused to comment, saying the matter was under litigation.
There have been allegations that the tender kingpin was under pressure to implicate additional people in the SAPS and senior politicians in relation to the healthcare contract.
Twelve SAPS officers have been charged alongside Matlala, including Brig Rachel Matjeng, suspended national commissioner Fannie Masemola, Capt Brian Cartwright, and senior procurement officer Tumisho Nehemiah Maleka.

Mawande Amashabalala