The wife of alleged cartel leader Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala has been granted R20 000 bail in a fraud and corruption case, as investigators intensify scrutiny of his business interests and the private security regulator.
Tsakane Matlala was released by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court after her arrest on Monday during a Gauteng counter-intelligence operation conducted in collaboration with the Political Killings Task Team. She is expected to return to court on 29 October.
She was arrested alongside Tshepo Mabopane and Claudette Masethe. The three appeared in court with Vusimuzi Matlala as co-accused in the fraud and corruption case.
The accused face allegations relating to the fraudulent acquisition of properties across Gauteng, as well as the procurement of fraudulent IDs and citizenship in eSwatini.
According to the state, one of the properties involved was in Waterkloof, Pretoria, and was leased for R95 000 a month. A total of R1.2 million has allegedly been paid to the property.
Matlala told the court that she intended to plead not guilty and would contest the allegations against her.
“I intend to plead not guilty and to prove my innocence, and the lack of required knowledge of wrongfulness in relation to the allegations levelled against me,” she said.
She also told the court that she suffered from pulmonary embolism, was unemployed and did not own any businesses. She said she was the primary caregiver for her three minor children.
Matlala further stated that she had not breached any of her bail conditions during the past year in a separate attempted murder case in which she is a co-accused with her husband.
The state did not oppose bail but asked the court to impose stringent conditions, including that Matlala not interfere with witnesses, report to her nearest police station at least once a week, surrender her travel documents and notify the investigating officer of any travel outside the court’s jurisdiction.
Matlala’s arrest on Monday coincided with the arrest of suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya on sex-related charges. Sibiya has been implicated in receiving impalas as a gift from Matlala in his alleged role in the R360m Medicare24 irregular contract.
The National Prosecuting Authority withdrew the fraud charges against suspended national police commissioner Fannie Masemola on his alleged role in the Medicare24 contract, citing lack of evidence.
On Monday, the same day of Tsakane's arrest and Sibiya’s court appearance, a search and seizure operation was conducted by the Special Investigating Unit at the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) in Centurion, Pretoria.
The operation relates to an investigation into the regulator’s handling of funds received from the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
The Special Investigating Unit is investigating how R130m allocated to PSiRA was used to train 7 701 young people in private security, election observation and end-user computing.
The raid comes after testimony at the Madlanga Commission concerning the registration of Matlala’s CAT VIP Protection with PSiRA, despite allegations of serious criminal conduct against him.
The recent arrests and search and seizure operations form part of wider investigations into alleged organised crime and possible links to law enforcement and the private security industry.