Matlala testified at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre on Wednesday.
Alleged underworld boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala has detailed the payments he claims to have made to certain individuals – including former police minister Bheki Cele.
Matlala testified before parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating accusations of political interference, corruption, and criminal conduct within the justice system.
The session took place at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria, where he is currently being held.
His name has featured prominently after KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s explosive 6 July press conference.
The briefing was held nearly two months after Matlala’s arrest on 14 May for the attempted murder of his former partner, Tebogo Thobejane.
His bail application was denied on 27 October.
Raid on Waterkloof Ridge home
Testifying before the committee after lunch, Matlala recounted a raid on his Waterkloof Ridge residence on 6 December 2024.
He said police officers – including members of the political killings task team (PKTT) – were searching for kidnapped businessman Jerry Boshoga, whom he referred to as his “very close friend”.
According to Matlala, he and his wife were in their bedroom when their children screamed as masked individuals armed with assault rifles entered the property at around 4pm.
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The witness said officers ordered everyone to lie down and seized his cellphones, questioning him about Boshoga and whether he knew senior police figures, including suspended Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya and Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.
He claimed that officers confiscated weapons belonging to his two security guards, his personal firearm, as well as his watches and laptop.
The alleged crime boss indicated that he requested documentation authorising the seizure, but “there was no warrant”.
Watch the ad hoc committee inquiry below:
Matlala described being “shaken” by the operation, which he said lasted about seven hours.
The next day, believing the intruders may have been criminals because they wore balaclavas, he said he went to the Brooklyn Police Station to open a case.
However, police allegedly refused, prompting him to approach his lawyers.
He admitted struggling to recall exact dates.
“Like I’m saying, a lot of things, I forget them. I’m in solitary confinement; I forget a lot of things.”
Contact from Brown Mogotsi
Matlala said that after police refused to register his complaint, political operator Oupa Brown Mogotsi contacted him, claiming to be working with Mchunu’s office.
Mogotsi advised him to open a case in Protea North, but even after going there, Matlala said he never received a case number.
He said he did not know Mogotsi beforehand nor how Mogotsi obtained his phone number, but accepted the assistance being offered.
“If you are sick and someone brings you the cure, you are not going to ask where he got the medicine from. I just wanted him to help me.”
Second raid and meeting with Cele
A second raid allegedly took place at his company offices on 18 December, during which police in paramilitary gear and balaclavas confiscated more of his firearms.
Following this, the late businessman, Bongani “Mabonga” Mpungose, reportedly arranged a meeting between Matlala and Cele, believing the former minister could intervene in what Matlala called ongoing “harassment”.
Matlala said he met Cele for the first time on 23 December at the Beverly Hills Hotel in KZN.
According to the witness, Cele told him that his problems would cease if he withdrew a court application relating to his interdict against the police – which he then did.
“It was the night before the matter was supposed to sit in court then I called my then lawyer that he must cancel everything.”
READ MORE: Brown Mogotsi rejects claims of Cat Matlala funding Mchunu’s ANC presidency bid
He also claimed Cele contacted Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo, who oversaw the PKTT.
During that call, Matlala said he heard Cele remark that the tenderpreneur was caught “in a Zulu war”.
“That I cannot explain it, but that’s what I heard,” Matlala told the committee.
When he returned to Pretoria, Matlala said officers at the Brooklyn police station returned his firearms.
ActionSA MP Dereleen James later told Matlala that Cele claimed their meeting concerned Mchunu’s ANC presidential ambitions, but he denied this.
Payments allegedly requested by Mogotsi and Cele
Matlala said that during the 18 December raid he contacted Mogotsi, who then requested money to secure accommodation for police officers who were supposedly investigating the incidents.
The businessman said he, however, wanted clarity from Mchunu on why he was being asked to pay for investigations and asked Mogotsi to arrange a meeting.
He said he paid Mogotsi, but no officers followed up.
“You’ll see on the proof of purchase from my bank statements that I paid him.”
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Two or three days later, Mogotsi allegedly requested funds for the ANC’s January 8 celebrations.
Matlala said he paid between R150 000 and R200 000.
“From what I understand, the minister sent him to go and ask for donations here and there.”
He emphasised that Mogotsi never linked the request to Mchunu’s presidential campaign.
‘Brown Mogotsi situation’
Matlala said he informed Cele about “the Brown Mogotsi situation” during their 23 December meeting, explaining he wanted to cut ties with Mogotsi.
Cele allegedly advised against blocking him.
“I told him this guy is asking for a lot of money now.”
According to Matlala, Cele further advised him not to pay more than R200 000, but to continue engaging Mogotsi.
Mpungose reportedly mentioned Matlala’s Menlyn Maine penthouse to Cele.
Cele previously admitted to sleeping at the penthouse in January this year because, according to him, it was a “freebie”.
Cele’s alleged requests for money
Matlala accused Cele of lying under oath about the purpose of their December meeting and claimed he paid Cele R500 000 in two cash instalments.
“Yes he lied under oath… For me, he was sucking information.
“Why would he even ask me to ask my protectors to take him and his wife to a wedding somewhere in Lanseria,” he said. “It was for his own benefit. I even gave him money.”
He said he first paid R300 000 in cash at his apartment in January, clarifying that this was not the same day Cele stayed at his penthouse.
The second payment, R200 000, was allegedly made in March at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
He also claimed he transported Cele and his wife to a wedding in Muldersdrift.
According to Matlala, Cele believed he was owed something because he had assisted Matlala with the firearms issue.
“Even the second payment, it was because of the same reason.”
He said Cele ultimately wanted more money, prompting him to stop answering Cele’s calls.
In the days before Matlala’s arrest, Cele allegedly phoned repeatedly, seeking money over problems with his car.
“Something said to me that ‘let me just stop taking this guy’s calls’. If you can check on that day I received more than 20 calls. It was on Friday and then next Wednesday that’s when I got arrested.”
Matlala added that he had once planned to buy Cele a birthday suit, but never did.
“That was supposed to be a gift. He didn’t ask for it.”
He said bank records would reflect withdrawals corresponding to the payments he described.
“The police have my bank statements.”
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