'Cat' Matlala wants to be released for R100,000

CONTROVERSIAL businessman and alleged mastermind behind a series of contract killings, Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala has not provided any evidence of having suffered any medical condition after spending more than five months in custody.

That was the counter argument the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) presented before approached the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, where Matlala filed an application in a bid to appeal against the decision by the Magistrate's Court to deny him bail last month.

Matlala, whose name has also been linked with dodgy contracts at the Tembisa Hospital, faces accusations of masterminding the failed assassination of his former partner, socialite Tebogo Thobejane, in October 2023, an accusation Matlala has denied.

The State and Matlala's legal team presented their heads of argument before the high court on Monday.  

During his earlier bail application, Matlala argued that being in jail has a negative impact on his business operations as well as his health.

In its arguments, the State said: "Matlala has accused the police of having stolen watches during a search and seizure at his home. He has also accused the police of planting incriminating evidence on his phone. The appellant has not been impeccable in painting a narrative against the police, having accused them of stealing his watch collection during a search and seizure operation at his house.

"What the court should consider is that the appellant can bypass protocol, as he had access to a cellphone communication while in custody on July 6. The cellphone was being used on the day of the raid of his cell at Kgosi Mampuru Correctional facility," the State prosecutor told the court.

The State has also cited Matlala’s alleged access to a private jet, foreign assets in Mauritius, and possession of a fraudulent Eswatini identity document as other grounds for him not to be released on bail.

However his legal representatives told the court that there is no smoking gun on the alleged money laundering charges against Matlala.

"There is no smoking gun, and the invoice, they say, because of the receipt book, this is money laundering. That is the question. Because of the funeral parlour and the daughter of the co-accused, the appellant is guilty of money laundering.

"Here is a man who is being charged on circumstantial evidence of a communication; there is no DNA, they tie firearms from one scene to another, and there is no connection linking him to all of this. These are not his firearms. They arrive at his house, arrest him, deny him bail on the basis that he is a flight risk. They point to a private jet," the defence lawyer argued.

However, the State has indicated that its case is based on various strands of evidence, which link Matlala through money transfers, WhatsApp conversations, and the falsified invoice, which was used to hide payments of alleged contract killers.

"We sit with the defence and say there is no evidence that the appellant could be linked to conversations and transfer of monies, and also, we have seized the invoice book from a funeral parlour where the invoice occurs completely out of sync and dated 23rd October 2024, and that is where money laundering comes from. The State contends that this invoice was falsified and submits that this was done to conceal the origins of the payments," the prosecutor added.

Matlala's legal team has pleaded with the court to consider a R100 000 bail and a possible house arrest for his client. Judgment is expected to be delivered on Friday. 

Cape Times