Former police minister Bheki Cele has made explosive allegations before Parliament, claiming that organised crime suspect Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala was approached to finance a political project linked to sidelined Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s alleged bid for the ANC presidency.
Testifying at Parliament’s ad hoc committee, Cele said he was told by Matlala that Mchunu and businessman Brown Mogotsi had asked him to help fund the campaign. The man who arranged Cele’s first meeting with Matlala, Bongani “Mabonga” Mpungose, was later murdered in a Sandton shooting.
Cele recounted meeting Matlala in December 2024 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban, where Matlala said he feared being caught in a “police war.” Despite later staying twice at Matlala’s penthouse in Pretoria, Cele maintained that they were not friends, saying, “He’s definitely not a friend.”
During the hearing, Cele alleged that suspended Deputy National Commissioner of Crime Detection Shadrack Sibiya had asked Matlala to sign an affidavit falsely claiming that police officers stole a Rolex watch during a raid on his home. Cele suggested the affidavit was intended to undermine the investigation led by Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo.
Cele also confirmed meeting Matlala at Zimbali Estate in Durban, which he later discovered was owned by businessman Hangwani Maumela — a figure linked by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to a R2 billion looting scandal at Gauteng’s Tembisa Hospital.
The SIU revealed last month that it uncovered irregularities worth R816 million connected to the Maumela syndicate, tracing over 40 companies and linking several contracts to Matlala.
Cele told Parliament that Matlala appeared to be manipulating senior police figures and political players, saying, “Now I wish that I could not have met him.”