WATCH | Madlanga commission draws links between Carrim, Matlala and Maumela

Evidence in the form of a paper trail before the Madlanga commission demonstrated strong financial dealings between North West ANC regional treasurer Suliman Carrim, murder accused Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala and tender tycoon Morgan Maumela.

This is according to the commission’s chief evidence leader, Adv Matthew Chaskalson, who flagged two substantial payments that Carrim made to Matlala’s company, Medicare24, that he didn’t disclose earlier in his evidence in chief.

When Chaskalson confronted Carrim about the payments, Carrim claimed to have not been aware of the R2.12m that he transferred to Matlala’s company through his firm, Tameez.

He claimed to have learnt through his lawyers on Tuesday morning that there were transactions that he did not authorise.

“This morning when I woke up, my attorney alerted me about this [the payments],” Carrim responded.

Chaskalson then asked if there was anyone in his company who could authorise the payments without his knowledge. Carrim responded that there wasn’t.

He added that his office would normally deal with payments made under his instructions.

“They [Matlala and Maumela] both kept putting pressure on me.” — Suliman Carrim

The payment was made in two deposits — R1m on June 27 2024, followed by R1.12m on October 7 2024.

On Monday, in his sworn statement, Carrim told the commission that he only invested R10m in Medicare24 in the hope he would get another R10m in return.

He claimed that in February 2025, he received a payment of R1.75m, and after that, Matlala, who was the director of Medicare24, pressured him to advance R750,000 to Maumela.

Carrim said the pressure did not come only from Matlala, as Maumela also called to ask when he would get the money.

“They both kept putting pressure on me,” Carrim said.

He testified that he made the payment because he was afraid, as media reports had linked Maumela and Matlala to the investigation into the murder of Babita Deokaran.

Deokaran was a Gauteng health department official who was assassinated in 2021 after blowing the whistle on tenders worth R2bn that were irregularly awarded to Tembisa Hospital.

Another paper trail showed that Carrim and Maumela had exchanged more than R50m between themselves over a short period of time.

Maumela has been identified as a central figure in a corruption syndicate linked to fraudulent contracts at Tembisa Hospital and other provincial health departments.

On Monday, Carrim was asked if the transactions between him, Maumela and Matlala amounted to money laundering.

Carrim said it did not.

“Counsellor, I had not done this with the intention to commit any fraud; I just got caught in a web of people. I was doing business as a businessperson.

“I looked at the opportunity, I saw these opportunities, and I took them.

“Yes, I made a bad choice... and at no point did I want to be part of it. I did not want to be part of or promote any of these [allegations] that you are raising.

Sowetan