Matlala faced multiple charges over the years.
Alleged cartel member and tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala came under heavy questioning on Thursday as MPs grilled him about his extensive criminal history.
He was appearing before parliament’s ad hoc committee at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria.
Cat Matlala’s charges and past arrests under the spotlight
During the proceedings, Matlala — currently charged with attempted murder for allegedly plotting to kill his former partner, Tebogo Thobejane — was interrogated about the many times he has been arrested.
He has maintained that he has only one conviction, from 2001, when he was found guilty of dealing in stolen goods and sentenced to four years in prison.
DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach challenged him, detailing several arrests and withdrawn cases spanning nearly two decades.
Breytenbach outlined multiple charges over the years, starting with two theft-from-vehicle cases in 2000. She noted that he was also arrested in 2006 for a cash-in-transit heist but was acquitted.
ALSO READ: ‘Salvaging’ R360m tenders and redirecting targets: Inside ‘Cat’ Matlala’s meeting with Mkhwanazi
More withdrawn cases followed: a 2011 car theft, three matters including an assault charge in 2012, a 2013 house robbery, and a 2015 carjacking.
In 2016, charges of possessing an unlicensed firearm, impersonating a police officer, and resisting or obstructing a police officer were also dropped.
A 2018 attempted murder charge was withdrawn as well.
“That is quite a checkered history. Most people don’t rack up that kind of history with the police,” Breytenbach said.
She then challenged how he had avoided multiple convictions.
“How is it, Mr Matlala, that you live such a charmed life? Out of that entire list of activities, you were only convicted once.
“How did you manage that? Or were the rest just nonsense charges?” she asked.
“Was I supposed to be convicted?” Matlala replied, insisting that the withdrawals were due to not being found guilty.
Links to senior police officials
Breytenbach then scrutinised his relationships with high-ranking police figures.
“You have a long history with the police and yet dispute that you have usually close access to high-ranking officials. Why is that?” she asked.
Matlala responded that his network extends beyond law enforcement.
Breytenbach pointed out that despite serving 26 years as a prosecutor and 14 years as a politician, she does not have police officials “on speed dial”.
“Yet you have an entire list full of them. How does that happen?” she asked.
Matlala said some of these connections stemmed from his cancelled R360 million health-services contract with the South African Police Service (Saps).
READ MORE: Cat Matlala denies being cartel member, but admits to being friends with alleged drug lord
He also refuted claims that he was the “corruptor” in the R500 000 payment made to former police minister Bheki Cele.
“From his side, I would say it’s corruption,” he said, adding that Cele demanded the money in return for assisting with the return of his seized firearms.
He agreed that he had paid Cele to “make his problems go away”.
“Of course,” Matlala remarked.
Firearms ownership
Matlala confirmed that he owns four licensed firearms — two 9mm pistols, a shotgun and an assault rifle.
He said he applied for the licences through normal procedures and that police had confiscated the weapons multiple times to verify their legitimacy.
Breytenbach suggested that most applicants with previous convictions would struggle to obtain licences, but Matlala argued that his was not a violent offence.
He used the same reasoning to justify being allowed to register a private security company.
“It’s a previous conviction that has nothing to do with violent crime, so there’s no exception,” Matlala said.
Business interests and political funding
Matlala told the committee that his security firm, Cat VIP Protection Services, earns about R2 million per month.
“It’s not the same; it depends on how many clients you have,” he said.
Matlala defended payments made to alleged political fixer Oupa Brown Mogotsi for the ANC’s January 8 celebrations, denying that he hands out cash freely.
“I explained why I had to give that money. Even myself, I felt it,” he said.
READ MORE: Millions allegedly paid to Cele and Masemola by Cat Matlala, Brown Mogotsi tells Madlanga Commission
He acknowledged that expecting Cele to help him with his issues would constitute an abuse of authority and accepted that the payment could be seen as a bribe.
Matlala stressed he did what he had to do with “this Bheki Cele issue”.
He further denied paying anyone to secure the R360 million tender through his company, Medicare24 Tshwane District, or bribing members of the police or judiciary.
‘You are not a businessman’
Breytenbach concluded her questioning with a scathing assessment of Matlala.
“In my view, Mr Matlala, you are not a businessman. You are a crook. You are a thief, you are a fraud, and you are corrupt.
“The problem in this country is that people like you clothe yourself in the respectability of calling yourself a businessman, but you are nothing but a dishonest thug.
“You make an illicit fortune by stealing from the poorest of the poor.
“It’s people like you and your associates [who] have robbed generations of South African children of their futures. Shame on you, sir,” she said.
“I don’t have any comments,” Matlala replied.
NOW READ: ‘He loves money a lot’ – Inside Matlala’s relationship with Shadrack Sibiya
