KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has revealed a letter from an ex-cellmate of controversial security company owner Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala.
The letter details an alleged close relationship between Matlala and several high-ranking law enforcement officials, including suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu.
Mkhwanazi returned to parliament’s ad hoc committee on Wednesday to conclude his testimony. The committee is investigating allegations of corruption and political interference sparked by Mkhwanazi’s explosive media briefing on July 6.
Mkhwanazi testified that he received a handwritten document from his cousin, who had been approached by a third party.
The letter was allegedly authored by Matlala’s cellmate in the maximum-security C-Max facility.
“My cousin called me and said there was someone in prison in Pretoria who wanted to share information with me,” Mkhwanazi said.
The plan and the reason for the call was to get Matlala to sign an affidavit that states he doesn’t know Mchunu, Apparently Nkwashu told them to first show good faith by granting Vusi bail
— Letter from an ex-cellmate of 'Cat' Matlala
Because Mkhwanazi was not in Pretoria at the time, his cousin facilitated the handover. “She gave me a handwritten document ... She said she got it from a gentleman who fetched it from the person who wrote it in prison.”
The letter was originally addressed to MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela. According to Mkhwanazi, the author is currently held in a Gauteng correctional centre and consented to the information being made public.
The letter contained claims regarding a co-ordinated effort to protect political interests.
The inmate alleged that on September 9 or 10, a conference call took place involving former national director of public prosecutions Shamila Batohi, Mchunu, Matlala’s advocate Laurence Hodes, an unnamed SAPS general, Investigative Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) head Andrea Johnson and a person named Nkwashu to facilitate what was discussed.
“The plan and the reason for the call was to get Matlala to sign an affidavit that states he doesn’t know Mchunu,” the letter stated. “Apparently Nkwashu told them to first show good faith by granting Vusi bail.
“Vusi explained to me that Hodes and Shamila are good friends and that Shamila and Mchunu are also very close, that is why Batohi is trying to help Mchunu.”
The letter further alleges that Matlala claimed to have funded Mchunu’s ANC presidential election campaign and provided R4m for the ANC’s anniversary.
“I was shocked because I’ve been in C-max for three years. We don’t have radios, newspapers or TV so I didn’t know all this was happening,” the inmate said.
He also wrote that Matlala was visited by members of Idac who allegedly pressured him to discredit Mkhwanazi.
He told me they were Mchunu’s lawyers and that they asked him to sign a statement saying he doesn’t know Mchunu
— Letter
Furthermore, the letter claims that suspended deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya was in regular contact with Matlala.
“He said Sibiya told him to open a case against Mkhwanazi. He said Sibiya gave him information of the special task force having kidnapped some lady who works at forensics and then taking [seizing] her computer. Sibiya also told him Mkhwanazi is under investigation. He told me many other things about Sibiya.”
A few days after signing the statement, which Mchunu sent for Matlala, “he told me that Mchunu sent a message to his wife explaining that he is happy and that Vusi must just sit tight, ‘help is on the way’.”
The cellmate described a scene on September 22 where Matlala met two men — believed to be Mchunu’s lawyers — and signed a document without reading it.
“He told me they were Mchunu’s lawyers and that they asked him to sign a statement saying he doesn’t know Mchunu,” the letter read.
He said he tried telling Matlala to come clean about his friendship with Mchunu and Sibiya, but Matlala said for him to come clean, the people will want to know why he was paying Mchunu and Sibiya, emphasising that’s where the problem is.
This directly contradicts Mchunu’s own testimony. Previously, Mchunu told the committee he had no relationship with Matlala, supporting his claim with an affidavit signed by Matlala in prison.
Mkhwanazi told the committee that while these are allegations, the detail provided by the inmate — specifically regarding matters not yet made public — gives the letter “legitimacy”.
“The information contains stories he was told by Matlala while they shared a cell,” Mkhwanazi said. “This person wrote things that have not been made public in the ad hoc committee ... that made me believe this person is legit. The stories he put forward might need to be considered and investigated further.”
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