The Alexandra magistrate’s court granted R20 000 bail to Tsakani Matlala, the wife of Gauteng tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, on Tuesday.
Matlala (49) and Tsakani appeared in court in connection with the alleged hit on famous television actress and influencer Tebogo Thobejane.
The other accused in the matter, Musa Kekana (35) and Tiego Floyd Mabusela (47), were not in court on Tuesday.
The four accused are facing various charges, including attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Tsakani was granted bail after the state and her defence team agreed that she was not a flight risk and had minor children she needed to take care of.
Her bail conditions stipulate that she must surrender her passport to the investigating officers and not leave Gauteng.
Matlala did not proceed with his bail application.
Magistrate Renier Boshoff postponed the matter to July 11 for all four accused to appear and for the case to be transferred to the Johannesburg High Court.
Kekana, Mabusela, and Matlala remain in police custody. Kekana and Mabusela never brought a bail application.
Kekana faces one count of conspiracy to commit murder, three counts of attempted murder, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition.
List of criminal charges
Mabusela is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder, three counts of attempted murder, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, one count of unlawful possession of ammunition, two counts of money laundering, one count of fraud, and one count of attempting to defeat the administration of justice (alternative to the fraud charge).
Matlala faces one count of conspiracy to commit murder, three counts of attempted murder, two counts of money laundering, one count of fraud, and one count of attempting to defeat the administration of justice (alternative to the fraud charge).
Tsakani is charged with three counts of attempted murder as an accessory after the fact, one count of money laundering, one count of fraud, and one count of attempting to defeat the administration of justice (alternative to the fraud charge).
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.
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 obtained a search and seizure warrant against him.
They then descended on his houses in Pretoria and Johannesburg and combed them for possible incriminating evidence.
The police found and confiscated Matlala’s cellphone, said the source.
WhatsApp messages with hitmen
They downloaded the contents of the phone and stumbled upon WhatsApp messages between Matlala and 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”.
Thobejane was travelling in a car with her friends Anele Malinga and Ncube Khumbulani when their vehicle came under attack on the N1 highway near Sandton, Johannesburg, in October 2023.
Thobejane, who acted in the Tshivenda soap opera Muvhango, was shot in the foot, while one of her friends was hit in the spinal cord.
Thobejane has recuperated, but her friend is still languishing in 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 they had known each other for a while.
