Vusi ‘Cat’ Matlala has, on the second day of his testimony under oath, levelled fresh allegations against former police minister Bheki Cele and KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi at Parliament’s ad hoc committee sitting at Kgosi Mampuru II prison.
Before lunch on Thursday, Matlala told MPs he arranged for his sister to withdraw R300 000 in cash from an FNB branch at Menlyn Maine in Pretoria earlier this year, before allegedly handing the money to Cele in a Woolworths shopping bag at his luxury penthouse in the Capital Menlyn Maine Hotel.
He described the Woolworths bag as his “favourite” and “money bag”, and said he saw nothing unusual about transporting large sums of cash in this way.
R300k ‘cash and carry’ payment Matlala links to Bheki Cele
He said he did not step outside the building during the transfer and dismissed concerns from the committee’s evidence leader, Advocate Norman Arendse SC, that it was risky to move such a large amount of cash in this way.
He told MPs that the cash was allegedly destined for Cele, reiterating earlier claims that the former police minister received a total of R500 000 from him — R300 000 in Pretoria and a further R200 000 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, both times transported in Woolworths bags and with a convoy of bodyguards.
Matlala said he routinely travelled with between 14 and 16 protectors and maintained that he was a businessman who moved with security because “there are a lot of things happening”.
The alleged cash payments, which Cele has previously denied, are part of Matlala’s broader claim that he was pressured to pay money to secure the return of firearms and halt what he described as police “harassment” after a raid on his home.
None of these allegations has been tested in a criminal court.
‘I will take care of this Cat’: claims about Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi
In a separate line of evidence, Matlala linked KZN top cop Mkhwanazi to the cancellation of his R360 million medical services tender with the South African Police Service and alleged that the commissioner used threatening language about him in discussions with national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola.
Matlala told the ad hoc committee that Cele facilitated a meeting between him and Mkhwanazi to address payment disputes after the contract was cancelled at the end of 2024.
During this process, he said he later heard that Mkhwanazi had told Masemola that if the commissioner believed his life was in danger because of the contract fallout, “just say the word, I will take care of this Cat”.
Matlala testified that when he queried the remark, Mkhwanazi said there was “only one way” he could take care of him permanently, although he did not explicitly use the word “kill”.
Matlala said the exchange left him feeling that senior police figures were treating him as a potential threat over the tender dispute, even though, in his version, he was seeking clarity about payments owed under the contract.
Allegations about torture complaint and pressure on witness
In a written statement placed before the inquiry, Matlala further alleges that Mkhwanazi raised concerns with him about a businessman, Ismael Nangy, who lives in the same Midstream Estate as Matlala.
He claims the commissioner told him that Nangy had been arrested in KwaZulu-Natal on a kidnapping allegation and that members of his team had tortured Nangy during the operation, with Mkhwanazi himself present.
Nangy had reportedly lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) over the incident.
Matlala says Mkhwanazi asked him to help persuade Nangy to withdraw the complaint and to tell him that then police minister Senzo Mchunu and General Shadrack Sibiya were the ones who had encouraged him to lay charges.
Matlala states that he later met Nangy, who allegedly told him that he and his family had suffered severe abuse, including injuries to a relative who “can’t even speak” as a result of the torture, and that they were not prepared to withdraw the case and had filed a civil claim of around R10 million.
Matlala says he relayed this to Mkhwanazi through another senior officer and believes his involvement in the matter is among the reasons he was later arrested and charged.
These allegations about torture and interference in an IPID complaint have not been adjudicated by a court, and the officials named have not yet responded in the parliamentary forum to Matlala’s latest version.
Central figure in police corruption probe and Madlanga Commission
Matlala’s testimony is unfolding against the backdrop of a broader parliamentary inquiry into alleged police corruption, political interference and the disbandment of specialist investigative units, as well as the separate Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into claims of criminal capture of law-enforcement structures.
The ad hoc committee is sitting at Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre this week to accommodate Matlala, who is currently in custody facing charges including attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and fraud.
His evidence has become central to MPs’ attempts to understand alleged links between senior police commanders, politicians and private business interests, although both Parliament and media outlets have stressed that many of his claims remain unverified.
A link to Parliament’s live stream of the proceedings is provided in Swisher Post’s main coverage of the ad hoc committee hearings.
