Returned on 24 August 2026 (Day 165) to account for what his first statement left out
Matlala came back to the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College under subpoena to explain omissions in the affidavit he gave the commission, including, per SABC News and eNCA, the names of senior police officials he had not disclosed: suspended deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona, and Major-General Richard Shibiri, the former head of the SAPS organised crime component. Very little of that ground was reached. The sitting was consumed by an application to stand his evidence down to the following day after his lead counsel, Advocate Annelene van den Heever, fell ill. Nothing about Sibiya, Senona or Shibiri was tested on the day, and all three are presumed innocent.
The stand-down was refused and his counsel threatened an interdict (24 August 2026)
Advocate Fatima Missi, appearing without her leader, asked for the day so that a replying affidavit and heads of argument on the privilege against self-incrimination could be filed, citing the volume of material served on the defence and difficulty consulting Matlala at Kgosi Mampuru II. Evidence leader Advocate Adila Hassim opposed it, telling the commission the application 'could have been brought much sooner' and that the time available to his team 'extends over months, not over days'. Chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga refused the stand-down, observing that written submissions are prepared in the main for the assistance of the decision-maker, and ordered the self-incrimination argument to be heard at midday. Missi then told the panel that her instructions, failing the afternoon, were to bring an application interdicting the proceedings.
He told the commission he had not decided whether his own lawyers should withdraw (24 August 2026)
After the lunch adjournment the panel put the withdrawal threat to Matlala directly. Per SABC News he did not confirm it, saying he had not made up his mind and that 'I'm actually in the dark now because while I was having lunch, I didn't have enough time to conclude what we've been discussing'. Commissioner Sesi Baloyi told Missi the gap between the instructions counsel had stated on the record and her client's answer from the witness box was 'deeply problematic'. Per EWN the planned self-incrimination application was withdrawn for the day and his evidence continued, leaving the privilege question unresolved.
The commission narrowed his privilege claim and he answered (25 August 2026, Day 166)
With his lead counsel Advocate Annelene van den Heever back in the room, evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello SC put it that the privilege against self-incrimination is not a blanket entitlement to silence and that, per the Daily Maverick, 'logic dictates ... a person can only incriminate themselves in relation to a specific offence'. Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, referring to Constitutional Court authority requiring a claim of privilege to fall within clearly defined parameters rather than be asserted in general terms, directed that Matlala answer unless he could explain the specific exposure. On the subject of Hangwani 'Morgan' Maumela the point was decisive: per the Mail & Guardian, Sello observed that Matlala is not a suspect in the Special Investigating Unit's Tembisa Hospital matter and therefore had nothing there to incriminate himself in.
He described a joint venture with Hangwani 'Morgan' Maumela (25 August 2026, Day 166)
Per the Mail & Guardian, Matlala told the commission that he and Maumela met around 2015 or 2016 over a shared enthusiasm for sports cars, put roughly R1 million each into a neutral company bank account, and from about 2018 answered requests for quotation from the Gauteng Department of Health through a company between them, financing accepted quotations out of the pooled money. He explained it as 'if you are a supplier and we need to buy stock from your company, we would put money into your company', said each partner took ten percent of the profit on deals the other secured, and put the total at something in the order of R5 million over five years. Describing a business relationship is not an admission of wrongdoing; the account is untested and Maumela has not answered it.
He said he introduced Maumela to the late Jotham Msibi (25 August 2026, Day 166)
Per EWN, Matlala drew the first direct link the commission has heard between Maumela, the man the SIU calls central to the alleged Tembisa Hospital procurement fraud, and the late taxi boss Jotham 'King Mswazi' Msibi, described in evidence on Day 161 as a former leader of the alleged 'Big Five' cartel. On his account he introduced them, the occasion being a Pagani Huayra that Maumela wanted to sell and for which Msibi was to organise a buyer. WhatsApp messages were also put up showing Matlala's intention to buy a private jet with Msibi. This is his account alone. Msibi is dead and cannot answer it, Maumela has not answered it, and the commission has made no finding that the two networks are connected.
The commission asked for the affidavits from his collapsed plea deal (24 August 2026, Day 165)
At the midday argument the chairperson ordered on Day 165, evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello SC asked for the affidavits and statements Matlala filed in the plea-and-sentence agreement rejected by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in July 2026. Advocate Fatima Missi argued the documents are privileged under the Criminal Procedure Act's protection for admissions made in a failed plea negotiation and warned it would 'create a precedent that while courts cannot use affidavits in collapsed plea agreements, commissions could access such affidavits'. Sello answered that the protection is directed at criminal court proceedings and that a commission is not a court. Per Business Day, Madlanga declined to decide it without full written argument. The point is unresolved.
Testified on 17 August 2026 (Day 160) and claimed the privilege against self-incrimination
Brought forward from 1 September, Matlala appeared under subpoena at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College led by evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello, with Advocate Annelene van den Heever for him and Commissioner Sandile Khumalo sitting with chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga. He placed a set of denials on record and then claimed the section 35 privilege against self-incrimination on almost everything touching the Medicare24 tender and his pending criminal trial - the tender itself (he said only that it 'has since been terminated'), alleged gratifications to police officers, his relationships with Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya, Sergeant Fanie Nkosi and Suleiman Carrim, and what he and Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi discussed when they met in 2025. Sello pressed the limits of the claim - 'the question is simple: were you induced or threatened to give false information?' - without breaking the impasse. Commissioner Khumalo corrected him on his own corporate footprint, pointing out the evidence showed three companies rather than two: Medicare24, CAT VIP Protection and Black AK Trading and Supplies. The day adjourned for a supplementary affidavit; his testimony resumes on 24 August 2026. Claiming the privilege is a constitutional right, not an admission.
Denied any relationship with Senzo Mchunu and Feroz Khan (17 August 2026)
Matlala told the commission: 'I place on record that I do not have any relationship with Minister Senzo Mchunu. I have never met Minister Mchunu and have had no interactions with him.' He allowed only one point of contact - correspondence between their attorneys on whether the two knew each other, a letter that also went to Parliament's ad hoc committee. He said the same of suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Maj-Gen Feroz Khan: 'I have never met him and have had no interactions with him.' He also denied that any of his companies were ever awarded a contract by the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department, and said CAT VIP Protection secured former Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell without financial gain. He confirmed he had met KZN commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, but claimed privilege over what was discussed. These are his denials on the record, not findings either way.
The loan from Suleiman Carrim: R15 million, not R10 million (17 August 2026)
Matlala confirmed he knows businessman Suleiman Carrim and approached him for funding for Medicare24 after cash-flow trouble on the SAPS contract, putting the agreement at a R15 million loan. When Carrim gave evidence on 9 and 10 March 2026 he told the commission the loan was R10 million. The R5 million discrepancy now sits unresolved: on 14 August 2026 the commission ruled that Carrim will no longer be required to appear and that findings on him will be made on his March evidence alone. Neither account has been tested; both men are presumed innocent.
Declined to answer on the 20 impala allegedly delivered to Sibiya (17 August 2026)
Asked about a recording in which the delivery of 20 live impala to the farm of suspended deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya, said to have taken place in March 2024, is discussed, Matlala said: 'I do not want to incriminate myself because I know that the recordings are under investigation.' He told the commission he had not known the recordings existed when he deposed to his original affidavit, that he would need to scrutinise the audio, and that his answer would come in a supplementary affidavit. Sergeant Fanie Nkosi told the commission in March 2026 that Sibiya raised no objection to gifts from Matlala. The allegation is untested and Sibiya is presumed innocent.
On Brown Mogotsi, Bheki Cele and the payments (17 August 2026)
Matlala described Brown Mogotsi first contacting him days after a police raid on his home, relaying that he was from Police Minister Senzo Mchunu's office and offering to help him open a case against the officers who conducted it. He said he gave Mogotsi money - R20,000 said to be for accommodation for investigators looking into the raids, and a later request for funding for the ANC's January 8 celebrations - with the total he put at up to R150,000. He said former police minister Bheki Cele had told him to maintain the relationship in order to investigate corruption. Of Mogotsi he said: 'I actually hate him. He caused a lot of problems for me.' This is Matlala's account. Mogotsi denies wrongdoing, Cele has not answered it before this commission, and all of it is untested; everyone named is presumed innocent.
Confirmed Hangwani Maumela was once a director of CAT VIP Protection (17 August 2026)
Matlala confirmed that Hangwani Morgan Maumela is a friend and former business associate, that they have known each other since around 2016 or 2017, and that Maumela was once a director of his company CAT VIP Protection - then declined to go further, citing the Special Investigating Unit's ongoing investigation, per IOL's report from the hearing. The commission's evidence leaders described Maumela and Suleiman Carrim in March 2026 as the apparent funders behind the Medicare24 tender. Matlala also told the commission he knew three Gauteng businessmen linked to alleged criminal syndicates, among them the late taxi boss Jotham Msibi. Untested; Maumela is presumed innocent.
Commission appearance postponed to 1 September 2026 (15 July)
On 15 July 2026 the Madlanga Commission postponed Matlala's testimony to 1 September 2026 and ordered him to file his statement by 29 July. His counsel, Advocate Annelene van den Heever, argued that his section 35 constitutional rights as a potential accused had to take precedence over the commission's timetable, and that the defence could not responsibly advise him to testify until it had seen the documents relating to his collapsed plea negotiations and understood the full criminal case against him. Chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga, visibly irritated, cut the argument short to focus on the 'broader question' of precedence before granting the postponement. This is a procedural step, not a finding.
Withdrew the plea deal; the case goes to trial (13 July 2026)
On 13 July 2026, back in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, Matlala withdrew from the plea-and-sentence agreement rather than accept the effective 12-year term the magistrate had proposed in place of the rejected eight-year deal. Magistrate Ignatius du Preez declared the agreement null and void, the guilty plea and sentencing fell away, and the matter - against Matlala and his companies Medicare24 Tshwane District and Luxo Africa Brand Investments - was postponed to 11 September 2026 for trial on the fraud, corruption and money-laundering charges. The NPA confirmed his plea statement cannot be used in new prosecutions, removing the section 204 state-witness leverage the deal had promised against his former co-accused. With the plea withdrawn, all the charges are once again untested and Matlala is presumed innocent.
Subpoenaed, then rescheduled: due to testify 15 July 2026
On 2 July 2026 the commission confirmed it had subpoenaed Matlala - a 'central figure' in the investigation, per spokesperson Jeremy Michaels - to appear on 7 July 2026, and it is understood he agreed to testify on condition he would not be cross-examined on aspects of the R360 million Medicare24 tender. On 6 July the evidence leaders sought a postponement 'due to the heightened media and public interest', and on 7 July his legal team appeared while he was seen briefly by video link from Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre; chairperson Madlanga ordered his written statement filed by 8 July and set his testimony down for 15 July 2026. That date followed his plea-deal decision two days earlier; after he withdrew from the plea on 13 July, his commission appearance stands in a changed light. This is a procedural step, not a finding.
Court rejects the 8-year plea deal, proposes 12 years (1 July 2026)
On 1 July 2026 Magistrate Ignatius du Preez, in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court, accepted Matlala's guilty plea but rejected the agreed sentence - 15 years' imprisonment with seven suspended, an effective eight years - as too lenient, finding the offences 'were committed out of greed, and for no other reason' and reading out an effective 12 years as the term he considered just. The conviction and sentence cannot be finalised until Matlala, his legal team and the NPA decide whether to accept the heavier 12-year sentence or abandon the plea-and-sentence agreement altogether; the matter returns to court on 13 July 2026. Because his section 204 co-operation is bound up in that deal, the outcome also determines whether the State can use his witness affidavit to prosecute his former co-accused, most of them senior police officers including National Commissioner Fannie Masemola. On 13 July 2026 Matlala withdrew from the agreement rather than accept the heavier term, so the guilty plea fell away (see the item above).
Pleaded guilty and agreed to turn state witness (25 June 2026)
Matlala pleaded guilty to fraud, corruption and money-laundering over the SAPS Medicare24 tender (advertised at R360 million; about R228 million paid) and concluded a plea-and-sentence agreement with the NPA's Investigating Directorate Against Corruption to become a section 204 state witness against his former co-accused, with R1 million fines for his companies Cat VIP Protection and Medicare Tshwane District. Section 204 indemnity only holds if his evidence is found truthful under cross-examination. The sentence was never ratified (the court rejected it on 1 July) and Matlala ultimately withdrew from the whole agreement on 13 July 2026, so the guilty plea fell away and the charges will now be tested at trial; he is presumed innocent.
The R360 million SAPS Medicare24 tender
Matlala's company secured a SAPS health-services contract advertised at R360 million, of which about R228 million was paid before SAPS cancelled it, finding the supply-chain process had been abused. He operated the contract through Medicare Tshwane District, a franchise of Medicare24 Holdings (the company of Michael van Wyk). Twelve SAPS officers were charged as his co-accused before his trial was severed from theirs on 24 June 2026.
Named as a 'Big Five' cartel figure
Crime Intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo and KZN commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi named Matlala in testimony as a central figure in the alleged 'Big Five' syndicate said to run drug trafficking, tender fraud, extortion, kidnappings and contract killings, with reach into the police, politics and private security. These cartel allegations are untested and he is presumed innocent of them.
Attempted-murder trial (untested)
Separately from the tender case, Matlala faces a trial on 25 charges including 11 counts of attempted murder, reported as set down for July 2026. These charges have not been tested in court and he is presumed innocent.
Alleged funders, cash and the 'money bag'
The commission's evidence leaders described businessmen Suleiman Carrim and Hangwani (Morgan) Maumela as the apparent funders behind Matlala, with money flowing from Medicare24 through Tamiz Investments to Carrim and North West businessman Brown Mogotsi, among others. Matlala separately told a parliamentary committee that an ordinary black Woolworths bag was his 'favourite' for moving large sums of cash - the 'money bag' that became a defining image of the hearings. Untested allegations.
Alleged links across the police-corruption web
Evidence and testimony have tied Matlala to multiple strands of the inquiry: WhatsApp chats with Medicare24 CEO Michael van Wyk that the evidence leaders read as an alleged cocaine deal; a 'blue lights', branding and memorandum arrangement pursued with suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi; an alleged gift of live impala to Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya; and an alleged R70,000 'car loan' to Maj-Gen Richard Shibiri. All of these remain untested allegations; those named deny wrongdoing and are presumed innocent.
The R20,000 from a serving Hawks general (Day 167, 26 August 2026)
Per SABC News and EWN, Matlala told the commission that after police raided his Pretoria home on 6 December 2024 and seized his phones, leaving him unable to transact, Major General Lesetja Senona lent him R20,000. He put it forward as evidence of an ordinary friendship: 'I even borrowed money from him. Yes ... yes, I remember that day he gave me R20,000.' He said that when a second raid followed on 18 December 2024, Senona undertook to establish what was behind it and never came back with any information. Nothing in this has been found to be unlawful and both men are presumed innocent.
The advice on how to fight the Medicare24 cancellation (Day 167, 26 August 2026)
Per The Citizen, WhatsApp messages dated 13 May 2025 were put to Matlala in which Senona advised him to seek legal advice with a view to challenging the South African Police Service's cancellation of the R360 million Medicare24 contract. Asked what interest a serving Hawks general could have in a police procurement decision, Matlala said: 'There's nothing for him to have interest in the contract ... but he knows that I need the contract.' Untested; Senona denies wrongdoing.
What he says he told Mkhwanazi about payments to Sibiya (Day 167, 26 August 2026)
Per Business Day, Matlala testified that Senona accompanied him to a meeting with KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi at Umhlanga on 15 April 2025, arranged by former police minister Bheki Cele, and that he sought the meeting to reach the police human resources head, Lieutenant General Lineo Nkhuoa, over his company's non-performance problems on the contract. He said that at that meeting he raised payments made to Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya - by other people, he insisted, and not by him. He said Senona took no part in the tender discussion. Sibiya denies being bankrolled by Matlala, has not answered this particular account before the commission, and is presumed innocent.
Refused to answer on the apartment bought with Senona and his son (Day 167, 26 August 2026)
Per the Mail & Guardian and SABC News, Matlala declined to give details of a joint property venture involving Senona and the general's son, Thato Senona, confirming only that it concerned an apartment bought to rent out at a cost of under R3 million. His reason was that his own conduct with Senona is under police investigation: 'My conduct with General Senona, so I wouldn't know what they are investigating. They just said corruption, a couple of things.' Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga noted that Senona had given the commission his own account of the same project and asked for the inconsistency to be explained.
The loans from Steve Motsumi (Day 166, 25 August 2026)
Per SABC News, Matlala confirmed a R5 million loan from security businessman Steve Motsumi in 2024, formalised in an acknowledgement of debt and applied to renovations tied to a lease at the SAPS Pretoria West College; he said it was repaid in 2025 and was not interest-free. Per Business Day, he also sought a further R20 million from Motsumi after the South African Police Service threatened in February 2025 to cancel the Medicare24 contract over non-performance - 'I needed more money to fund the contract' - and that R20 million never materialised. Untested; Motsumi has not answered it before the commission and is presumed innocent.
