Cat Matlala links relationship with Morgan Maumela to sports cars before business deals
Alleged crime figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala told South Africa’s Madlanga Commission on Tuesday that his connection with Hangwani Morgan Maumela began with a ...
Alleged crime figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala told South Africa’s Madlanga Commission on Tuesday that his connection with Hangwani Morgan Maumela began with a shared love of sports cars. That bond later shifted, he said, into business and money.
Matlala was back on the witness stand as the commission continued hearing evidence tied to alleged corruption in Gauteng’s health procurement system. The testimony adds a personal thread to a wider political and criminal inquiry that has already pulled in senior police officials and claims of front companies, cash payments and conflicts of interest.
Cars first, money later
Matlala said he first met Maumela around 2015 or 2016 through their interest in sports cars. The two would sometimes meet at restaurants in Sandton and talk about their vehicles.
“We had a passion for sports cars… That’s how we knew each other,” Matlala testified.
That early connection, he told the commission, later grew into a business relationship. The pair invested in projects together and shared profits, moving from casual conversations about cars to joint commercial dealings.
Health contracts under scrutiny
Matlala also said companies linked to both men received numerous requests for quotations from the Gauteng Department of Health for medical consumables. He said the last of those requests came around 2018 or 2019, adding: “There were quite a lot.”
The evidence sits inside a broader examination of how procurement decisions were handled in Gauteng’s health sector. The commission has been probing allegations of improper influence, and Matlala’s account points to how social ties, private business and state purchasing may have overlapped.
A wider web around Matlala
The hearing follows a series of revelations about Matlala’s dealings and associations. Separate reports have described him as posing as an Eswatini royal to secure a mansion in Pretoria, while other testimony has linked him to allegations involving cash, fronting and relationships with senior police figures.
In earlier proceedings, Matlala’s name also surfaced in connection with disputed payments and claims about his company, Medicare24 Tshwane District. Those hearings have placed him near the centre of South Africa’s corruption and procurement scandals, with the Madlanga Commission continuing to map how money, influence and personal connections intersected.
The commission is expected to keep pressing witnesses on the companies, contracts and relationships that flowed from those early Sandton meet-ups. For now, Matlala’s own version starts with luxury cars and ends with public contracts.
