Controversial businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala has changed his account of payments to former police minister Bheki Cele and suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya, while accusing investigators from the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) of manipulating his failed plea agreement to target senior police officials.
During three days of testimony before the Madlanga Commission this week, Matlala sought to distance himself from explosive allegations in a witness statement he signed in March, claiming investigators had added information he had not supplied to implicate particular police officials.
He described the alleged manipulation as part of what he called a “Zulu war” involving suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu and Cele.
Matlala accused suspended Idac chief investigator Dylan Perumal and investigators Suneel Bellochun, Brian Padayachee and Santhos Manilal of pressuring him to provide information about senior police officers. He alleged that Perumal drafted his statement and produced several versions containing information he had not supplied.
He told the commission that investigators were more interested in targeting KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola and Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo rather than prosecuting him.
Matlala also alleged that investigators took him out of prison during the early hours of the morning to question him about the generals, including taking him to a McDonald’s restaurant near the C-Max correctional facility and, on another occasion, to the Sheraton Hotel.
Security strategist Andy Mashaile said Matlala appeared to be distancing himself from allegations in his earlier statement while implicating people with whom he had been associated.
“He has sown some serious storms around Senzo Mchunu and, most importantly, Bheki Cele,” Mashaile said.
He described Matlala’s attempt to secure leniency through the plea agreement as a calculated strategy that ultimately failed.
“It was not completely honest; it was completely dishonest,” he said.
Despite accusing investigators of exaggerating his relationship with Cele, Matlala admitted making substantial cash payments to the former minister.
He alleged that Cele had received R700 000 in cash in a Woolworths bag at his penthouse in Menlyn Maine in January 2025.
Matlala said he had withdrawn R500 000 on 9 January and another R200 000 the next day.
He further alleged that Cele had received another R300 000 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban in March 2025 as part of a R1 million arrangement to help save his Medicare24 contract with the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Matlala also claimed that Cele had wanted him to purchase a R6 million retirement property in Trafalgar, KwaZulu-Natal, and pay for repairs to his and his wife’s vehicles. He said he had ignored the requests.
Matlala said the investigators had inflated the payments to construct a corruption case against Cele.
“I did give Cele money but that money was exaggerated. Because now they wanted to charge him with corruption,” he said.
He alleged that investigators had wanted to arrest Cele after he had concluded the plea agreement. They had been unhappy when he had withdrawn from it.
Matlala said Cele had offered to help him after the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) raided his home in December 2024, telling him he was caught up in a “Zulu war”.
He also claimed Cele had discussed Mchunu’s instruction to police management to investigate the Medicare24 contract.
Mchunu has been accused of disbanding the PKTT on 31 December 2024, amid allegations of his association with Matlala, which he has denied.
The commission previously heard testimony from Brown Mogotsi, an alleged intermediary between Mchunu and Matlala, who said their relationship had soured after the businessman had allegedly refused to fund Mchunu’s presidential campaign. Matlala had subsequently approached Cele for assistance.
Matlala has consistently denied meeting or communicating with Mchunu. Cele allegedly told Matlala to maintain a relationship with Mchunu as a way to “get to him”.
Matlala also changed his account about the payments to Sibiya, eventually admitting that he had given the former deputy national police commissioner R550 000.
He said R500 000 was intended as a contribution towards Sibiya’s child’s wedding, while another R50 000 was for travel to the SAPS Excellence Awards in Durban.
On Monday, 9 November, Matlala initially said he had paid Sibiya only R50 000.
On Tuesday, he admitted paying the additional R500 000 but disputed the circumstances in which it was handed over.
His March witness statement reportedly placed the handover in the basement of the State Theatre in Pretoria, while investigators’ notes recorded it as having taken place at Sibiya’s home in Copperleaf.
Matlala denied that the money was connected to the R360-million Medicare24 contract.
He also testified that Sibiya had asked him to purchase a plot in Midrand, which he had refused to do, describing it as extortion.
Mashaile said Matlala had also implicated Sibiya, suggesting further allegations could emerge about the former general’s alleged attempts to influence his testimony before parliament’s ad hoc committee.
“He has thrown some people under the bus, General Sibiya being one of them,” he said.
Matlala denied giving Sibiya 20 impala as a gift. He said he had not known where the animals were going when he allowed Sergeant Fannie Nkosi, an alleged intermediary between Sibiya and Mchunu, to collect them from his Bela-Bela farm.
Sibiya has previously denied receiving money from Matlala. He has resigned from the police service and remains in custody after the Randburg Magistrate’s Court denied him bail in October over concerns about possible witness interference and the concealment of evidence.
He faces sexual-offence charges, which he denies.
Matlala said former Idac head Andrea Johnson had missed her appearance before the commission on 13 July because of a panic attack.
This was the day he rejected the proposed 12-year sentence after the court refused to confirm the original eight-year plea agreement.
The commission’s decision on 9 November to allow Matlala’s failed plea-agreement statement to be used in its proceedings was another significant development.
His legal team opposed its admission, arguing that protections afforded to statements made during failed plea negotiations should prevent the commission from relying on the document.
Senior analyst at Control Risks Otlotleng Mokgatle said Matlala’s testimony raised as many questions as it answered, particularly because of the contradictions between his earlier witness statement and his evidence before the commission.
“The witness statement contains serious claims but he has since disputed parts of it and changed his version of some important details. That makes it difficult to take either the statement or his latest testimony at face value,” Mokgatle said.
He said the commission would need to test Matlala’s claims against messages, financial records and evidence from other witnesses.
“If Matlala’s version is accurate, and that remains a big ‘if’, it would raise serious concerns about how the statement was produced. Investigators cannot be seen to shape evidence around a predetermined outcome, particularly in cases involving senior police officials,” he said.
Mokgatle cautioned against treating the allegations as evidence of a straightforward factional battle within the SAPS.
“What has emerged does fit the broader picture Mkhwanazi described [during his July 2025 media briefing]: competing interests within law enforcement and questions about who holds influence over sensitive investigations. It may be much messier than a straightforward factional split,” he said.
“Officials can align on one issue and clash on another, so I don’t think we yet have enough evidence to confidently map out who sits in which camp or what interests ultimately connect them.”
Mashaile said the Madlanga Commission had achieved significant results relative to its budget, pointing out disgraced officials such as Sibiya, Feroz Khan, Julius Mkhwanazi, Rachel Matjeng, Lesetja Senona, Fannie Nkosi, Brown Mogotsi, Suliman Carrim and others.
“The Madlanga Commission has been able to achieve much with a budget of R100 million,” he said, comparing its expenditure with the approximately R1 billion spent on the Zondo Commission.
He expected the commission to receive another extension beyond its 27 January deadline.