Section Head, Quality Management (Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management), SAPS Forensic Services Division, until her dismissal on 30 June 2026 · Pretoria
Testified · dismissed from the SAPS · charged
Brigadier Rachel Matjeng headed quality management for criminal record and crime scene management in the South African Police Service's Forensic Services Division in Pretoria. She gave evidence to this commission over two days, on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 February 2026, and what she disclosed on the first of them is why she matters to this record: she told the commission she had been in an intermittent romantic relationship with Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala since 2017, describing him as 'humble, respectful and romantic', while insisting she had no part in the roughly R360 million police health-services tender his linked company won. Her account to the commission was that the money and the gifts came from a wealthy boyfriend and had nothing to do with the tender, that she sat on none of the bid committees, and that a R300,000 payment was not gratification because it went to an account belonging to a butchery owned by a friend. On her second day she went further and recast her role as an intervention, telling the commission she had stepped in to stop the SAPS 'bleeding millions' to the contract. Per the Sowetan she also said she tried to recuse herself once she learned the tender had gone to Matlala and that her superior refused and told her it was her responsibility. Three separate processes have run against her since, and this archive keeps them apart because they answer different questions. This commission heard her evidence in public and has made no finding about her. A criminal prosecution arising from the same tender is before the courts and is untested. And her employer ran an internal disciplinary process that ended her career: per the Sowetan, SABC News, Business Day and IOL she was dismissed with effect from Tuesday 30 June 2026 after a panel found her guilty on multiple counts of serious misconduct, a set of findings national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe listed as accepting gratification, money laundering, improperly advising Matlala against the interests of the SAPS, conduct prejudicial to the administration of the police service by giving Matlala a list of SAPS members intending to gain financially, and dishonesty. An employer's internal finding is not a criminal conviction and does not become one by being reported. She has not pleaded to the criminal charges, no court has convicted her, her explanation to the commission stands on the public record as her own account, and she is presumed innocent.
This profile summarises testimony and evidence given on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as presented at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person.
Awaiting appearanceNo portrait on the public record yet
Their role
What the record says
Her own disclosure: an intermittent relationship with Matlala since 2017, and no role in his tender (Days 54 and 55)
Per Eyewitness News and the Sowetan, Matjeng told the commission on Thursday 5 February 2026 that she and Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala had been in an on-and-off romantic relationship since 2017, and she described him as 'humble, respectful and romantic'. She said the gifts and money she received from him were personal and unrelated to the roughly R350 to R360 million SAPS health-services tender, and that she was not a member of the bid specification, evaluation or adjudication committees and did not know which service providers had bid. Per IOL, on Friday 6 February she told the commission she had stepped in to stop the SAPS 'bleeding millions' to the contract, framing her conduct as acting against the deal rather than for it. Per the Sowetan she also said she sought to recuse herself when she learned the tender had been awarded to Matlala and that her superior refused and told her it was her responsibility. This is her evidence, given in public and under the commission's process. The commission has made no finding about any of it.
The payment, and the three figures the record carries for it
Per Eyewitness News and the Sowetan, Matjeng denied to the commission that a R300,000 payment from Matlala was gratification, telling it the money was deposited into an account belonging to a butchery owned by a friend. This archive carries a spelling variance it does not resolve: our record of her February evidence names the business Osizweni Meat Market, and the Sowetan's July explainer says prosecutors described the money as routed through 'Osizweni Meat Hyper' before reaching her personal account, allegedly from another Matlala company, Luxo Africa Brand Investments. The amount is also not one number on the public record. The commission heard R300,000. Per the Sowetan the perks alleged against her in the disciplinary matter totalled about R338,000 and included Ozempic valued at about R4,500 a unit. Separately, per reporting on his plea admissions, Matlala said he paid R300,000 to Matjeng in connection with the SAPS tender; this archive records that as an admission made by him about his own conduct, not as a finding about hers, and notes that he pleaded guilty on 25 June 2026, turned a section 204 state witness, and then withdrew from that deal. She has never accepted the characterisation. She is presumed innocent.
Arrested with eleven other senior officers over the same tender (24 March 2026)
Per IOL and the Mail and Guardian, Matjeng was among twelve South African Police Service members arrested on 24 March 2026 by the National Prosecuting Authority and the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption over the R360 million Medicare24 police tender, and appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court alongside Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala and eleven other senior officers. Per eNCA the state opposed bail for Matlala while his co-accused were granted bail of between R40,000 and R80,000 with stringent conditions; the reporting puts her own bail at R80,000. The charges reported in the matter are fraud, corruption, money laundering, tender manipulation and contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act. She appears as an accused in the prosecution this archive records as the Medicare24 SAPS tender case, alongside National Commissioner Fannie Masemola, James George Murray and Captain Brian Cartwright among others. An arrest is not a conviction and a charge is not a finding. She has not pleaded, no court has determined any of these charges, and she is presumed innocent.
Dismissed from the SAPS with effect from 30 June 2026 after internal disciplinary findings
Per the Sowetan, SABC News, Business Day and IOL, an internal SAPS disciplinary panel found Matjeng guilty on multiple counts of serious misconduct and her dismissal took effect on Tuesday 30 June 2026, confirmed publicly the following day. Per SABC News, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe listed the counts she was found guilty of as accepting gratification, money laundering, improperly advising Matlala against the interests of the SAPS, conduct prejudicial to the administration of the police service by giving Matlala a list of SAPS members intending to gain financially, and dishonesty. The Sowetan's account of the findings adds that she leaked a confidential SAPS roster to Matlala for personal financial gain and was dishonest about the nature of their financial relationship. Per the Sowetan, acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane said the dismissal sends a message that 'corruption will not be tolerated within the police service'. What this is and what it is not should not be run together. This was her employer's internal process, decided on an employer's standard of proof, and it ended her employment. It is not a criminal conviction, it was not a finding of this commission, and it does not determine the criminal charges, which remain untested. She is presumed innocent.
Timeline
How the account unfolded
2017
The relationship she disclosed to the commission begins
Per her own evidence on Day 54, reported by Eyewitness News and the Sowetan, her intermittent romantic relationship with Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala dates from 2017.
5 February 2026
Day 54: she takes the stand and discloses the relationship
She told the commission she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Matlala since 2017, denied sitting on any of the bid committees, denied that a R300,000 payment was gratification, and said the gifts she received were personal and unrelated to the SAPS tender.
6 February 2026
Day 55: she recasts her role as an intervention
On her second day she told the commission she had stepped in to stop the SAPS 'bleeding millions' to the Matlala-linked contract. A witness identified only as Witness F also featured in the day's proceedings; the commission's own record for the day lists both of them as its primary focus.
24 March 2026
Arrested with eleven other SAPS members over the tender
Per IOL and the Mail and Guardian, she was one of twelve police members arrested by the NPA and IDAC over the R360 million Medicare24 tender and appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court. Bail reported at R80,000. Charges untested; presumed innocent.
25 June 2026
Matlala pleads guilty over the same tender, then withdraws from the deal
The central accused in the tender prosecution pleaded guilty on 25 June 2026 and turned a section 204 state witness, then withdrew from the agreement and the matter headed to trial. Reporting on his plea admissions says he stated he paid R300,000 to Matjeng in connection with the tender. That is his statement about his own conduct, not a finding about hers.
30 June 2026
Her dismissal from the SAPS takes effect
Per the Sowetan, SABC News, Business Day and IOL, an internal disciplinary panel found her guilty on multiple counts of serious misconduct and her dismissal took effect this day, announced publicly on 1 July 2026. An employer's finding, not a court's.
“It must be noted I was not part of the bid specification committee or bid evaluation committee nor bid adjudication committee and was not aware of the service providers that submitted the bids for the tender.”
Her evidence on Day 54, 5 February 2026, distancing herself from the procurement of the SAPS health-services contract awarded to a company linked to Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala.