It appears Matlala sought to open a case of assault against the officers, and an Ipid connection was being utilised for such purposes.
Analysis presented at the Madlanga commission by Police Divisional Commissioner of Crime Intelligence, Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, suggests that accused criminal kingpins Brown Mogotsi and Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala attempted to use their Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) connections to open an assault case against members of the Gauteng counter-intelligence unit.
This was after the Hawks raided Matlala’s home in Tshwane in December, amid allegations of tender fraud at Tembisa Hospital.
At the time, the raid was marred by allegations of harassment.
Matlala attempted to open a case of assault against the officers.
Mogotsi and Matlala messages
On Tuesday, Khumalo analysed text messages from Brown Mogotsi and Matlala, which he said revealed their use of Ipid, payments to police, the disbandment of the political killings task team and access to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.
On 23 December 2024, Mogotsi asked Matlala: “My brother, any news from Ipid?”
Mogotsi then followed up the following day with calls to Matlala that went unanswered.
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On 25 December, Matlala asked Mogotsi: “Morning, brother, did you call by mistake last night?”
Mogotsi responded and said: “Good day, bro! I believe it was a misdial, sorry.” He continued: “1. Ipid 2. Court case date 3. 25% we may lose accom and flight packages.”
Khumalo said the 25% was referring to a payment that had to be made for politicians. Matlala has been accused of bankrolling the lifestyles of politicians.
Matlala and travel expenses
The messages suggest Matlala had promised to cover travel expenses for politicians. Mogotsi kept reminding Matlala to make the payment.
Mogotsi forwarded a message to Matlala on 25 December 2024, which reads: “Hello, sir. You have been promising to do the payment and I constantly requested that do a 25% (R37 000,00) of the amount. (R148 000,00). Unfortunately, we have to prioritise the next available client, should you not make the payment by tomorrow, 26th December, noon.”
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“First thing tomorrow morning, I’ll attend to it, as soon as the banks open, I’ll be there. I couldn’t do it before because of the obstacles which you are also aware of, but I made a promise to you and I won’t disappoint,” responded Matlala.
On 26 December, he continued: “I think when they wake up tomorrow, it will be in. I’ll send you a video of my banking app, it’s off. I cannot do anything without going to the bank. I was hoping they would be open today, but they are still closed.”
Ipid assault case
Mogotsi inquired about the case further on 27 December, which was to be handled by Ipid, asking Matlala, “What does the guy need?”
Matlala responded: “The case needs to have assault for him to effect arrest, he’s saying he can’t do an arrest if there’s no J88 to prove assault, and my wife is not keen to open up an assault case. The guards who were assaulted at my house are only coming back in January. They went home for Christmas.”
Analysis
Khumalo said the messages between the two showed a move to have their Ipid connection assist them with a case of assault, with earlier messages showing a contact saved as Senzo Mchunu asking whether an arrest had been made yet.
Khumalo said: “A possible conclusion is that the discussions on Ipid suggest to us that Mr Vusimuzi Matlala and Brown Mogotsi had a discussion on the involvement of Ipid to intervene after the operation by the team on 18 and 19 December 2024, maybe also the 6th of December.
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“The manipulation of Ipid process comes out as we read the responses of how Ipid could not effect an arrest. The interpretation is an attempt to manipulate Ipid processes for the benefit of Cat Matlala, including how to make the case valid. Mogotsi seems to suggest Ipid could be a breakthrough they needed to sort out Cat’s issue.
“It also suggests Cat might have an Ipid person. Brown Mogotsi, in his discussion, saved the number as Senzo Mchunu, which we presume refers to the minister of police, based on the number saved under Senzo Mchunu. The discussion shared between Mogotsi and the saved Senzo Mchunu suggested or gave the updates that there is a breakthrough, followed by the question of whether there was an arrest.”
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