Deputy President Paul Mashatile.
Image: Parliament RSA
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has rejected claims that he met or planned to meet with alleged cartel leader, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, as categorically ‘untrue.’
The claims, raised by Gauteng Organised Crime Unit officer Sergeant Fannie Nkosi during testimony before the Madlanga Commission on Monday suggested a link between Mashatile and Matlala.
According to Nkosi, Matlala urgently requested his bank card just before an alleged scheduled meeting with Mashatile and suspended police deputy commissioner Lt-Gen. Shadrack Sibiya.
Nkosi told the commission he could not confirm whether the card was meant for Mashatile or for another purpose.
But in a sharp response, Mashatile said he does not know either Matlala or any of the individuals mentioned in the testimony.
Mashatile’s office underscored a key contradiction: he was out of the country at the time the alleged meeting was said to have taken place.
“Of significance is that the Deputy President does not know the individuals referenced in the testimony and has never had any association or dealings with them.
“Of greater significance is that the Deputy President was out of the country at the time that Mr. Matlala purportedly met with him or intended to do so,” the statement read.
This, he argued, rendered the claims not only misleading but factually impossible.
“The Deputy President has never had any association or dealings with the individuals referenced,” his office said.
Mashatile pledged full transparency and confirmed his readiness to assist the commission should further clarification be required.
Nkosi had on Monday defended his decision not to disclose that Matlala "urgently" wanted his credit card back because of his alleged scheduled high-profile meetings with Mashatile and Sibiya.
Nkosi previously testified that Matlala handed over his credit card for specific purchases, including boat seats, a boat cover, and a service kit for Matlala's jet ski and boat.
Chief evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC probed Nkosi's inconsistent statements, highlighting discrepancies between his handwritten account and the typed version submitted to the commission.
Part of the handwritten statement detailed a police raid at Nkosi's house on October 8, 2025, where R385 175 cash found in his safe was confiscated.
Nkosi said the police asked if he possessed Matlala's bank card and he answered that he did not have the card with him.
He testified that his hand-written statement erroneously mentioned that Matlala called him, clarifying that he had actually called Matlala, not the other way around. The commission was earlier told Matlala had called Nkosi to convey that he needed the card urgently because of the meetings.
Chaskalson asked Nkosi why Matlala needed the card, given that Nkosi was going to meet Mashatile and later Sibiya.
Nkosi responded that he preferred not to speculate on Matlala's intentions with the card, and denied intentionally withholding Mashatile's name to protect him.
Chaskalson suggested that the card was given to Nkosi "essentially to pay a bribe to you and Sibiya through you".
Nkosi said: "Matlala has no reason for the so-called bribe through his card. I was not investigating him and I didn't do him any favour."
Chaskalson highlighted Nkosi's inconsistent testimony, pointing out he initially stated finding the credit card in September - both in his handwritten statement and early testimony - but later changed it to December.
"The second contradiction is how you found that card, whether you found it independently and whether you found it because you were called by Matlala. In a handwritten statement it was Matlala alerted you to the existence of the card. It is clear that it is not you calling Matlala. In the typed statement the version is that you found the card and you then called Matlala," Chaskalson said.
He further noted that the third contradiction concerned the location where Nkosi claimed to have found the card, as this detail was absent from both his handwritten and typed statements.
"In oral evidence you have given two different versions. The first version is on your way back you found that on your way back from Limpopo where you fetched the jet ski. The second version is that you found it at Haartebeespoort when you opened the dash looking for the keys of the jet ski," he said.
Nkosi attributed the inconsistencies in his testimony to human error on his part.
Cape Times