Former police minister Bheki Cele says Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala told him that deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya advised him to open a false case against crime intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, accusing him of unlawfully raiding his house and stealing his Rolex and his wife’s jewellery.
Cele told parliament’s ad hoc committee on Thursday that Matlala had approached him in December last year to facilitate a meeting between Matlala and Khumalo.
Cele’s testimony came a day after suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu finished his. The committee is investigating corruption and criminality in the criminal justice system.
A key part of Cele’s testimony centred on his meeting with Matlala for the first time in 2024, through Bongani Mpungose, the son of Elias “Sputla” Mpungose, a well-known taxi boss and political figure from Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal.
Cele said he met Mpungose at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban, but he didn’t know he would be bringing Matlala.
“I think I delayed two days because Bongani, who is known as Mabonga, did not tell me that he is bringing somebody else. So as I came there, [and] because I had seen a photo of Cat, I said to him, ‘You look like Cat’. He said, ‘I am’.
“He had asked Mabonga to come to me because there are two issues he wants to raise with me,” Cele testified.
He said they spoke about the raid on Matlala’s home as well as a funding problem related to Mchunu’s presidential ambitions.
“Firstly, he [Matlala] said he has met Mchunu and Brown Mogotsi. And they spoke about him [Mchunu], because he [Matlala]’s got money through the tender [a R360m SAPS tender] to fund his [Mchunu’s] project of becoming either a president or deputy president.
“I didn’t know which project this was,” he said.
Cele said Matlala told him about the raid that took place in December, and immediately, he said, he knew he was talking about the political killings task team (PKTT).
“The second issue was about the raid. Some members of PKTT had joined the Gauteng members, and he wanted to speak to me because he had been raided. He said they woke him in the night, told him to get up, and raided him on accusations related to drugs, which confused me because what does this have to do with me?
”He [Matlala] also said he was approached by General Sibiya to write an affidavit against Khumalo to get him arrested.
“He explained that a case was coming [the] next week in which he had taken Khumalo and his team to court for an unlawful raid, allowing for a chance for Sibiya to also discipline him [Khumalo]. The affidavit Sibiya wrote claimed that Khumalo and his team had stolen his [Matlala’s] Rolex and his wife’s jewellery. He said he didn’t want to take the police to court because he didn’t want to harm his relationship with the police, as he had just gotten the tender.
“He asked me to meet with Khumalo because I was close with Khumalo. So I did speak to Khumalo, and they [Khumalo and Matlala] spoke, and the matter didn’t go to court,” said Cele.
He asked me to meet with Khumalo because I was close with Khumalo. So I did speak to Khumalo, and they [Khumalo and Matlala] spoke, and the matter didn’t go to court
— Bheki Cele, Former police minister
Cele said he wasn’t asked for anything in return.
“No they didn’t ask if I wanted anything and I also didn’t want anything in return,” he answered.
When the committee asked whether he knew Mogotsi, he said no.
“No, I don’t know Brown Mogotsi — not even as a comrade. I’ve only recently become aware of him because he’s quite prominent in the media. I think he’s currently one of the most visible people in media.
“I haven’t met Brown Mogotsi in person, and he is not on my WhatsApp. I’ve seen him speaking publicly. When I heard the name Mogotsi, I thought he was close to the minister [Mchunu] but the minister’s spokesperson, [Kamogelo] Mogotsi, is actually a lady,” he said.
Sowetan
