The Woolworths 'money bag'

What it is

An ordinary black Woolworths shopping bag that businessman Vusumuzi 'Cat' Matlala described as the bag he routinely used to carry large sums of cash. He told a parliamentary ad hoc committee it was his 'favourite' bag and referred to it as the 'money bag'. The casual image of an everyday retail bag holding hundreds of thousands of rand became one of the most widely shared moments of the police-corruption hearings.

Why it matters

It crystallised, in a single household object, the allegation that large cash payments moved easily and informally between an alleged cartel figure and senior officials. The reference was so resonant that Woolworths publicly changed its black bag to a more transparent design. It anchors the cash-payment thread of the inquiry's cartel allegations.