Tenderpreneur and alleged drug cartel member Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala has told parliament’s ad hoc committee he gave former police minister Bheki Cele R500,000 and then stopped taking his calls after realising he won’t stop asking for money.
He said this was after Cele had called him, asking him for money, saying his wife’s car was having problems.
Matlala, who is testifying at the Kgosi Mampuru prison where he is detained following his arrest for the attempted murder of his former girlfriend Tebogo Thobejane, accused Cele of lying under oath when the former minister appeared before the ad hoc committee.
This was in relation to questions that had been put to Cele about why he had met Matlala. In his response, Cele had said it was because he was trying to get information from Matlala.
When asked whether Cele had lied under oath, Matlala said: “Yes, he lied under oath. If he was asking for information from me, why would he even ask me to tell my protectors to take him and his wife to a wedding somewhere [in Muldersdrift, Krugersdorp]... there was no way, from me sending my protectors to drive him to this wedding, that he would get information from those guys. He doesn’t even know them.
“If he wanted information, he was supposed to make sure at the time that I was with him, so he could get it directly from me. But it was for his own benefit. I even gave him money.
Matlala said he had given Cele R300,000 and then R200,000. He said he gave Cele cash at his penthouse in Pretoria and the second time was at Beverly Hills hotel in KwaZulu-Natal “And if he says he was only there to get information — did he declare anywhere that I gave him that money?”
Matlala said he gave Cele cash because he had told him that he had assisted him, but that Matlala was not showing his appreciation.
He said he stopped taking calls from Cele because he realised he won’t stop after he had called him and asked him for money.
In his testimony, Matlala also claimed he did not know suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu and had never met him. However, he confirmed he met KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in April this year.
He said Cele was the one who had organised the meeting for him and Mkhwanazi. This was after he had told Cele about the problems he had with his R360m SAPS contract, and then Cele took him to meet Mkhwanazi.
The hearing continues.
Sowetan
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