Alleged criminal kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala told the Madlanga Commission that although he allowed Sergeant Fannie Nkosi to take 20 impala from his Bela-Bela farm, he had not known who would receive them.
He said he had wanted to get rid of the impala and found out only after Nkosi had shared the address that they were headed to General Shadrack Sibiya’s residence.
Evidence leader Thabang Pooe highlighted a sequence of events where Matlala and Sergeant Nkosi exchanged a case docket for 20 impala in several days of each other during March 2024.
“On the 20th you send the case number, the following day he asks you the station, the following day you send him information regarding the impalas and then he sends you [the docket]. I'm asking whether the two are connected or, if purely coincidental, that it transpires on the same day?” Pooe asked.
“No, they are not connected … but I don't recall the case unfortunately,” Matlala replied.
He told the commission he could not recall what the WhatsApp chats between himself and Nkosi were about.
Matlala alleged that he gave the 20 impala to Nkosi to get rid of them and that Nkosi then gave them to Sibiya as a gift.
He said that although his farm manager, Rudi Botha, had managed the delivery of the impalas, he had been unaware that they were going to Sibiya. He denied his previous evidence contained in the failed plea deal that he knew the impala were going to Sibiya.
Paragraph 64 of Matlala's 204 Witness Statement says: “I asked Nkosi via WhatsApp to confirm where the impalas were to be delivered. Sibiya WhatsApp messaged me directly the address and I gave it to Botha. I submit that Botha will corroborate and provide details of the transportation and delivery of the Impalas.”
He disputed the information in the statement and told the commission that he had not known who the impala were going to until Nkosi had sent him the address.
Matlala said Investigative Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) investigators, among them Dylan Perumal, Brian Padayachee, Suneel Bellochun and Santhos Manilal, had been involved in drafting the witness statement.
“It didn't matter to me at that point because I wanted to get rid of the animals anyway. Every year I give [them] to people. I just realised after that they were going to Sibiya. At that point in time I didn't care who they were going to.”
Matlala said it was a rumour that he had given Sibiya the animals.
The commission displayed WhatsApp chats between Sibiya and General Hilda Senthumule discussing how the animals were dying at his farm. Matlala denied having spoken to Senthumule or knowing who took the impala.
“In the conversation between yourself and Commissioner Khumalo, you indicated that you just thought that Sergeant Nkosi was trying to impress his boss once you found that the impalas were for General Sibiya. Is that correct?” Pooe asked.
“Yes,” Matlala replied.
“And you were not expecting anything from either one of them?” Pooe queries.
“No, no,” Matlala responded.
He told the commission that he had allowed Nkosi to take the impala away, adding that was before he started making R500 000 payments to Sibiya.
He further denied evidential testimony about his association with Major General Sandrah Thema and Brigadier Rachel Matjeng who had facilitated his awarding of the R360 million Medicare24 contract.
“By the time the bid was awarded to Medicare, Thema and I became quite closely associated. I used to visit her at her house situated in Zambezi Country Estates and we never met in public to avoid being associated with one another.”
Paragraph 68 of Matlala's 204 witness statement says: “The two of us had an arrangement that she was going to be a silent partner in the SAPS Hospital Business. Thema advised me that Rachel was in charge of the medical screening for forensic science laboratory personnel of the SAPS. I kept the relationship with Thema separate from my relationship with Rachel.”
Matlala denied including that paragraph in his witness statement.
“Was the entire paragraph inserted by Idac?” Pooe asked.
“Yes,” Matlala replied.
When asked about his relationship with Matjeng, Matlala asserted his privilege not to incriminate himself. He refused to answer all questions related to Matjeng.