Attempted murder-accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala has contradicted former police minister Bheki Cele’s testimony, accusing him of lying under oath to parliament.
While Cele told the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee that he never received any money from Matlala, the businessman insists he paid the former minister a total of R500, 000 in cash. A third attempt to solicit money from him was ignored.
Matlala told the committee that Cele’s relationship with him soured the moment he stopped responding to calls demanding money. He revealed that he paid Cele R300, 000 and R200, 000, separately in cash. This after being approached for help following a raid on his home by a special police task team.
Cele demanded the payments
According to Matlala, these payments were not gifts or donations, they were allegedly demanded by Cele himself. The first R300, 000, he said, was for Cele’s intervention after the dramatic raid in December 2024. This was where his firearms, devices, and other assets were seized.
The raid, which Matlala described in detail, lasted at least seven hours. He said armed men in balaclavas broke down his front gate. They disarmed his guards, got to him in the main bedroom on the second floor where he was with his wife. He insisted the officers had no search warrant. Matlala said he only discovered the raiders were police officers when he tried to open a case the next day.
Matlala’s testimony placed Cele at the centre of his attempts to recover his seized firearms and end the harassment he claims he was facing. He described being introduced to Cele through Sphamandla Mabonga, son of a famous taxi owner.
“[Cele] knew about my problem, as I explained to him. He didn’t know the face [but] the name and everything he knew of it. He said to me before he speaks to his people to stop harassing me, I should withdraw the court interdict. I …cancelled everything, and then he took out his phone in front of me, and he said to me he’s calling Lt-Gen [Dumisani] Khumalo.
Was cleared after making payments
“I cancelled everything. And then he took out his phone in front of me and he said to me he’s calling Lt-Gen [Dumisani] Khumalo. Then he called him while I was with him. He told him that this guy got between a Zulu war but he’s not a threat to us in any way.
“But obviously, I couldn’t hear on the other hand what Mr Khumalo was saying to him. But after that he said to me ‘it’s okay go back to Pretoria, you can go back to the police station and fetch your firearms’. Indeed when I went to Pretoria, I did get my firearms,” said Matlala.
Matlala went further, saying he later learned that Cele and suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu were locked in a bitter feud inside the police service over the loyalty of police officials.
Brown Mogotsi
He told the committee that (Brown) Mogotsi allegedly pretended to represent Mchunu. He even asked him for money to send people to the ANC January 8 Statement celebrations. Matlala said Cele advised him to continue engaging Mogotsi, even financially, to help complete the mission of arresting Mchunu.
He also said he discovered that Mchunu was using him through Mogotsi. Mchunu had political ambitions of becoming ANC president or deputy president.
