Despite his legal application to interdict the process of appearing before the Parliament’s ad hoc committee.
Suspected criminal mastermind Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala for a testimony. They started proceedings by detailing his background in business.
Sitting at the Kgosi Mampuru correctional centre, where he is remanding, Cat shares how he started his business ventures selling goods before moving to the security business. Matlala confirmed his previous conviction after Grade 12 for selling illicit goods.
“After matric, that’s when I started to do informal business, buying and selling goods to a point where in 2001 I ended up being convicted for buying stuff which was illegal, and I’ve been sentenced to four years in prison,” he said.
“Right up until 2017, that’s when I formally registered my business. My first business was a security business.”
Sitting until Friday, he is expected to give evidence that he influenced police operations and was awarded a R360 million tender by the police irregularly.
“I grew up in Mamelodi East and started an informal business after matric. It was around this time that I was convicted for buying unregistered goods,” he revealed.
“The alleged unlawful disbandment of the political killings task team, otherwise known as the PKTT or NPKTT; the alleged moratorium on the filling of vacancies within the South African Police Service (SAPS); alleged corrupt relationships between senior leadership within SAPS and members of the public; as well as political interference in the work of the SAPS,” said Chairperson Soviet Lekganyane to Matlala.
Matlala described himself as a father of nine children and shared insights into his business ventures, including CAT VIP Security,He denied personal responsibility for a contentious R360 million tender awarded to his company, Medicare24.
“I have a friend I met in 2017 – Mike Van Wyk, founder of Medicare24. We live in the same complex. I was already running a security company supplying medical products to hospitals and clinics via Requests For Quote. Mike asked me to register a company to provide healthcare services in the township.”
Matlala insisted his role was limited to service provision at the Tembisa Hospital tender corruption scandal.
