Gauteng businessman and tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala changed lawyers when he made his second appearance at the Alexandra magistrate’s court on Monday.
Matlala was seen sitting in leg chains and talking with lawyer Victor Nkhwashu in the courtroom gallery prior to the start of Monday’s proceedings.
When Magistrate Renier Boshoff called Matlala’s case, Nkhwashu stood up and introduced himself as Matlala’s lawyer. Matlala was represented by advocate Cyril Mlotshwa when he appeared in court last week.
When contacted for comment, Mlotshwa said Matlala’s family terminated the mandate of the previous attorneys who were assigned to Matlala’s case.
According to him, this automatically ended his mandate as Matlala’s advocate and defence lawyer.
Matlala (49) faces charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He appeared in court after being taken into custody by police in Midrand on Wednesday.
The charges against Matlala relate to a purported hit on Tebogo Thobejane, a well-known television actress and influencer.
Matlala is the third accused in the murder.
The other two accused are Musa Kekana (35) and Tiego Floyd Mabusela (47), who also face charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Kekana and Mabusela did not appear in court on Monday.
State and defence ask for postponement
Boshoff was informed by a state prosecutor from the Gauteng director of public prosecutions’ office that she and Nkhwashu had decided to move Matlala’s bail application hearing to May 30.
She said that in order for Matlala, Kekana, and Mabusela to appear together, they decided on May 30. Nkhwashu told Boshoff that the prosecutor was telling the truth.
Since the state prosecutor is protected by the police, her name cannot be disclosed. Boshoff postponed the matter to May 30 for Matlala’s formal bail application.
If the case does not conclude on May 30, he said, the court will also set the date of June 3 for Matlala’s bail application. Matlala remains in police custody.
In April, The Sunday World exclusively reported that Matlala, who is suspected of being the mastermind behind the gruesome murder of corruption whistleblower Babita Deokaran, was being criminally investigated for 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).
Well-placed sources close to Thobejane’s investigation alleged that members of the crime intelligence unit who were investigating Matlala’s alleged involvement in looting the state-owned entity Prasa obtained a search and seizure warrant against him.
The police then descended on his houses in Pretoria and Johannesburg and combed them for possible incriminating evidence.
Instruction to shoot Thobejane in the face
The police found and confiscated Matlala’s cellphone, said the source.
They downloaded the contents of the phone and stumbled upon WhatsApp messages between Matlala and the two hitmen who were arrested in connection with the attempt on Thobejane’s life.
It is alleged that in one of the messages, Matlala told the assassins to “shoot her in the face so that her family does not recognise her”.
In October 2023, Thobejane and her friend were attacked on the N1 highway close to Sandton, and a hail of bullets hit their car.
While her friend was shot in the spinal cord, Thobejane, who starred in the Tshivenda soap opera Muvhango, was shot in the foot.
Thobejane has recuperated, but her friend is still languishing in the hospital, facing the prospect of never being able to walk again.
It is not known why Matlala allegedly wanted Thobejane dead, but Sunday World understands that they had known each other for a while.
