Police found a torn white sheet, seen in the ransom videos of kidnapped businessman Jerry Boshoga, at the house of alleged drug cartel member Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala during a search in December.
This information was revealed by Witness C on Friday at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System.
The Brigitte Mabandla Justice College in Pretoria hosted the proceedings on Friday, partially under camera.
Witness C said he is a member of the KwaZulu-Natal political killings task team (PKTT) and a certified forensic investigator specialising in fraud and corruption investigations.
Led by evidence leader advocate Ofentse Motlhasedi, Witness C testified that he joined the PKTT in May 2020 and was deployed on December 2, 2024, to assist the Gauteng organised crime unit with its investigations.
During his testimony, Witness C said on December 6, police went to Matlala’s Midstream Ridge house in Centurion, Pretoria, to search for kidnapped Pretoria businessman Boshoga.
When police arrived at Matlala’s mansion, he said, they entered the premises and went to the rooms inside the main house.
Sheet resembles one in videos
“In the first room we found a Malawian national called Yusuf who said he is a general worker at the premises,” he said.
“When we searched his room, we did not find Jerry Boshoga, but there was a white sheet that had distinctively torn sides and edges; it was manually tied to the window as a curtain.”
“The white sheet is distinctive because in one of the ransom videos that were sent to Boshoga’s family, there was a white sheet that resembles the one in Matlala’s house.
“The white, clean sheet in the ransom videos had even edges, and it was torn apart or torn off with hands.
“The clean white sheet found in Matlala’s house resembled the one in the video, and it was manually tied to the window as a curtain.”
Witness C said that Yusuf told him that Matlala gave him the sheet, and Matlala did not say where he received it. “He [Yusuf] said he does not know who Boshoga is and where he was,” said Witness C.
Boshoga, who has been missing for over ten months, was abducted in Centurion, Pretoria, in November 2024. He was last seen in November after claiming he was going to meet someone in Rooihuiskraal, Centurion.
Interpol helping to find Boshoga
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the SA Police Service has roped in the international police organisation (Interpol) to assist in finding Boshoga.
Witness C further said Matlala told police during the search that he and Boshoga have been friends since 2012 and that they committed criminal activities together.
According to Witness C, Matlala told police that he did not know where Boshoga was and had no knowledge of the people who kidnapped him.
“He [Matlala] said Jerry owed people money and he was in the drug business. Matlala said he lent Boshoga R5-million to buy a machine that processes drugs.
“Mr Matlala told us that Mr Boshoga had a fallout with his drug associates, and maybe they want to harm him.
“He gave us the names of those drug associates but we cannot divulge their names because investigations in Boshoga’s kidnapping are still ongoing,” said Witness C.
Alleged hit on Thobejane
Matlala (49), his wife Tsakani (36), two suspected hitmen, Tiego Floyd Mabusela (47) and Musa Kekana (35), and Mabusela’s daughter Nthabiseng Nzama (23), have all been charged with Tebogo Thobejane’s October 2023 attempted murder.
Thobejane, a famous television actress and influencer, is Matlala’s ex-lover.
The five accused are facing various charges, including, but not limited to, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, fraud, money laundering, and defeating the ends of justice in connection with the alleged hit on Thobejane.
During their previous appearance at the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on October 7, magistrate Renier Boshoff postponed the matter to November 11 for the centralisation of two additional dockets received from Pretoria and to facilitate the transfer of the case to the Johannesburg High Court.
The three attempted murder charges against the defendants relate to the injuries Thobejane and her friends Khumbulani Ncube and Anele Malinga allegedly suffered in the alleged hit.
Ambushed in Sandton
On the night of October 17, 2023, a black BMW that Thobejane, Malinga, and Ncube were traveling in was sprayed with a hail of bullets at the corner of Bryanston and Wilton Drives in Bryanston, Sandton, Johannesburg. The shooting took place between 10pm and 10:30pm.
Thobejane was shot in the foot, while Malinga sustained gunshot wounds to the spinal cord, which left her paralysed.
Tsakani and Nzama are out on R20 000 and R10 000 bail, respectively. Kekana, Mabusela and Matlala remain under police custody.
The Alexandra Magistrate’s Court denied Matlala bail in September. He has appealed the bail decision at the Johannesburg High Court, and the court is expected to hand down judgment today or on Monday.
The commission continues.
