Police deputy minister Cassel Mathale has denied claims that he put pressure on the office of suspended deputy commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya to arrest celebrity basher Musa Khawula.
This comes after Khawula insulted ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and businessman Ze Nxumalo.
On Wednesday, Witness F, testifying at the Madlanga commission probing allegations of criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system, said his boss told him that the office of Mathale was pressurising him to arrest Khawula.
Mathale denied the allegations: “I have never had any such discussion with General Sibiya for the arrest of Musa Khawula or any other person. I am also not aware of anyone who would have given such pressure from my office,” he said.
Witness F said as a result he sent the warrant of arrest to alleged cartel member Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala so he could help him make an arrest.
The arrest of Khawula came a few days after the celebrity blogger exposed Matlala’s alleged crime on Twitter.
Few days after the expose, Gauteng head of organised crime Maj-Gen Richard Shibiri send Witness F screenshots of Khawula’s tweets and messages warning Khawula not to post stories about Matlala as he was a “good guy” and “bothered no one.”
Subsequently a warrant of arrest of Khawula emerged and was shared with Matlala.
Explaining why he shared it with Matlala, Witness F told the commission that he wanted Matlala to assist in arresting Khawula.
Witness F is accused of being the link between Sibiya and criminal cartels while Matlala is alleged to be a member of the criminal cartel.
In October 2024, Khawula made defamatory claims about Nxumalo, stating “Dr Tamaryn Green-Nxumalo is with child while her husband Ze Nxumalo is cheating on her”. Nxumalo sent a letter demanding he retract the statement or face a charge of crimen injuria.
In July of the same year Khawula was jailed for 90 days for contempt of court after he refused to comply with a defamation verdict obtained by Mbalula’s wife Nozuko, which barred Khawula from posting corruption allegations about her on X.
Earlier yesterday the commission also heard that WhatsApp chats extracted from Witness F reveal that Matlala allegedly met with Shibiri at deputy commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya’s home.
Explaining the reason he, Matlala, Sibiya and Shibiri met at 7.30pm on September 14 2024 at Sibiya’s home, Witness F said it was a thanksgiving event.
Evidence leader advocate Matthew Chaskalson also quizzed Witness F about how he knew about Sibiya and Matlala’s relationship, to which he said he first became aware of it in December 2023.
“Sibiya called me to his office and, upon arrival, he told me there is someone I need to fetch, and when I got downstairs I met a person unbeknown to me. That person was Mr Matlala. He [Matlala] told me he was there to complain about his tender with SAPS,” Witness F responded.
- The commission continues today
Sowetan
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