The wife of Gauteng businessman and tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, Tsakane Matlala, has been added as accused number four in connection with the alleged hit on TV actress and influencer Tebogo Thobejane.
Tsakane was taken into custody on Thursday night and appeared at the Alexandra magistrate’s court on Friday along with Musa Kekana (35), Tiego Floyd Mabusela (47), and her husband.
The accused face charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder following the alleged hit on Thobejane.
Court proceedings postponed
The state prosecutor, who cannot be named because she is under police protection, stated during Friday’s court proceedings that the media were not permitted to display the accused’s faces.
She informed Renier Boshoff, the magistrate, that she would postpone the case so Matlala and Tsakane could submit a formal bail application.
Victor Nkhwashu, the attorney for Matlala and Tsakane, did not object to her request.
Matlala (49) had already appeared in court twice and was scheduled to apply for bail on Friday. Boshoff put the formal bail application from Matlala and Tsakane on hold until June 3.
Matlala was also directed by Boshoff to turn over his passport to the detectives. Boshoff also proposed moving Kekana and Mabusela’s case to the high court in Johannesburg, effective July 11.
The courtroom was heavily guarded by police when the four defendants showed up. Both inside and outside the courtroom were police officers with AK-47s, camouflaged uniforms, and balaclavas.
WhatsApp messages with hitmen
In April, 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 Prasa 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.
They downloaded the contents of the phone and stumbled upon WhatsApp messages between Matlala and 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”.
Ambush on the N1 highway
In October 2023, Thobejane and her friend were ambushed on the N1 highway near Sandton, and a hail of bullets sprayed their car.
Thobejane, who performed in the Tshivenda soap opera Muvhango, sustained a gunshot wound to her foot, while her friend sustained a spinal cord injury.
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.
