Airports Company South Africa is scratching its head over reports of a controversial businessman named Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala trying to set up a fancy R70 million private terminal at OR Tambo International Airport. They say they’ve got zero records of any such proposal and are just as baffled as everyone else.
Matlala, who’s been tangled up in various corruption messes, apparently met with some bank folks from Nedbank over a few weeks. They even tagged along for a walkthrough of the airport’s cargo area back in 2023. The idea was laid out in a concept paper he signed, dreaming up a speedy VIP and VVIP setup where high-rollers could skip the usual airport hassles, all handled by his security company.
During a chat about how things went over the holiday rush, the CEO explained that when this story popped up, they dug around trying to track down any sign of an application from this guy. But nada—it’s nowhere in their system.
They have a straightforward way of handling random business pitches, like unsolicited bids where someone rolls up saying, “Hey, I want to build this or that.” A few years back, they even whipped up a policy for these: collect them, check if the idea’s one-of-a-kind that no one else is offering, and maybe give it a shot if it’s truly unique.
But in this case, there’s no trace of anything linked to Matlala or his outfits. Maybe it was chatted about with someone who doesn’t work there anymore, or perhaps it involved another company heading in a similar direction. Who knows? It’s not on the books, hasn’t been reviewed, and definitely hasn’t moved forward.
It sounds like there might be a security angle to it, but honestly, they’re in the dark just like the rest of us. If anyone has a lead on where this thing might be hiding, they’d love to hear it so they can chase it down and figure out what the deal was whether it was treated as a real bid or just some wild brainstorm that never made it official.