Matlala blames arrest on meeting with Mkhwanazi

Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala says he intends to challenge his arrest and the way information that eventually led to his incarceration was gathered.

This was after he said a meeting between him and KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi had led to his arrest.

“If it wasn’t because of this type of engagement [with Mkhwanazi] and topics [we discussed], I wouldn’t be where I am now,” Matlala told the Madlanga commission on Wednesday.

However, he refused on several occasions to detail or answer questions about that April 2025 meeting, though he blamed it for his incarceration.

He told the commission that divulging what was discussed during the meeting would “spoil his case” before he presents it in court.

Matlala is facing two different criminal cases. He is accused of being involved in the attempted murder of his former girlfriend Tebogo Thobejane as well as that of taxi boss Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni.

The men he allegedly hired to shoot both Thobejane and Sibanyoni have been linked to a number of killings, including the murder of Oupa “DJ Sumbody” Sefoka .

According to Matlala, the reason he met with Mkhwanazi was because he wanted to complain about not receiving purchase orders and was under the impression Mkhwanazi could assist.

He said the meeting was organised on his behalf by former police minister Bheki Cele, and he attended it with former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona .

During the meeting, he said he and Mkhwanazi discussed, among other things, the allegations that suspended deputy police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya [unlawfully] collected money from people.

Earlier, Matlala revealed that he received a R20,000 “loan” from Senona. However, he had earlier refused to talk about his relationship with Senona, saying it was because it was under investigation by the commission’s task team.

He asserted his right not to self-incriminate but was told that he could not use that right as a blanket response to questions.

Matlala told the commission he had met Senona at a wedding in Pretoria in 2019 and that the relationship grew stronger as Senona would sometimes recommend Matlala’s security company to prospective clients.

After police raided his home in December 2024, he approached Senona to tell him about it, he said. “I told him, ‘Listen, they even took my phones. I cannot even make transactions’.