Matlala says April meeting with KwaZulu-Natal police chief was arranged after complaints over SAPS tender delays
Businessman Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala told South Africa’s Madlanga commission on Wednesday that a 2025 meeting with KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhl...
Businessman Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala told South Africa’s Madlanga commission on Wednesday that a 2025 meeting with KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was meant to help resolve his complaints over a stalled police tender. It also opened a new line of questioning around allegations that suspended deputy police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya had collected money from people.
Matlala said former police minister Bheki Cele had tried before to set up a meeting with Mkhwanazi. One earlier attempt, he said, fell through when he was told Mkhwanazi could not attend because he was meeting the king. The testimony adds another layer to the inquiry, which is examining claims of interference, misconduct and influence inside the South African Police Service.
The meeting was not the first attempt
According to Matlala, Cele was already aware of his frustration over purchase orders linked to a multimillion-rand tender he had secured from the SAPS. He said he had been complaining to Cele that the orders were not coming through, and that Cele then arranged for him to meet Mkhwanazi, who they believed might assist.
The planned encounter did not happen at first. Matlala told the commission that an earlier meeting had been arranged at his home in Zimbali, but it was called off on the day because Mkhwanazi was said to be occupied with the king. The second effort eventually led to the April 2025 meeting.
Senona joined Mkhwanazi
When Matlala finally met Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal commissioner was accompanied by former KZN Hawks head Maj-Gen Lesetja Senona. That detail matters because the commission has been hearing evidence about links between senior police figures, business interests and allegations of behind-the-scenes pressure in policing circles.
Matlala said the conversation touched on allegations involving suspended deputy police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya and money collected from people. The source material does not provide the full details of the discussion, but the topic places the meeting squarely inside the commission’s wider probe into claims of corruption and internal conflict.
Why the testimony matters
The Madlanga commission has become a key forum for testing competing accounts about the South African police service, including claims of political interference, abuse of office and manipulation of institutional power. Matlala’s evidence adds a business-side account to that picture, linking a tender dispute to senior police personalities and to one of the country’s most closely watched public inquiries.
His testimony also intersects with a broader pattern in South Africa’s state-capture era, where police, procurement and political influence have often been discussed in the same breath. That context has made every new witness appearance at the commission closely watched at home and abroad.
Matlala has separately said he intends to challenge his arrest and the way information that led to his incarceration was gathered. The commission’s hearings are expected to keep drawing attention as more witnesses test the accounts of what happened behind closed doors.
