'Cat' Matlala claims 'lying' Cele took R500k from him

CONTROVERSIAL tenderpreneur and attempted murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala accused former police minister Bheki Cele of being dishonest under oath. 

Matlala also claimed that he had paid Cele a total R500,000 in cash when he testified before the  Ad Hoc Committee established to investigate the allegations made by the South African Police Service (SAPS) KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Head, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. 

He told MPs that Cele had told him that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who is currently on enforced leave, wanted to be president. 

Cele had allegedly said: “He thinks he (Mchunu) can be president of the country.”

EFF leader Julius Malema referred to Cele’s testimony before the committee when MPs asked him: “Why do you keep Matlala close to you? His response was he kept Matlala close  because he “was bringing information from Mchunu to my side, so I can't let him go, because he's giving me information”.

Malema said: “He said that under oath, and now you're saying he's the one who came with the information, the opposite of what he told us, so, effectively, I'm asking you, Mr Matlala, did former Minister Cele lie under oath about those issues in relation to your name?”

In response, Matlala said: “Yes, he lied under oath…

“Why would he even ask me to ask my protectors to take him and his wife to a wedding somewhere in Lanseria? There was no way he would get information from those guys.

“He doesn't know them… I even gave him money… I don't think he even declared that money. I gave him money twice,” Matlala said.

“I gave him R300,000, and then on the second occasion I gave him R200,000.”

Matlala explained that he had met Cele for the first time on the 23rd of December 2024 at the Beverly Hill hotel in uMhlanga, as he had been introduced to Matlala as someone who could help alleviate the alleged harassment issues that he faced from the police.

Matlala’s property and his workplace had been raided twice by police; in the process, his firearms had been confiscated. Matlala had instituted court proceedings against the police following the ‘harassment', with Cele then encouraging him to withdraw his interdict as a sign of goodwill.

Thereafter Matlala said he returned to Pretoria, and he was able to retrieve his firearms, but he does not know “if they were registered or not”.

Cape Times