‘Give my friend and business partner Bheki Cele access to the penthouse whenever he is in Pretoria’.
That was the instruction tender tycoon Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala sent to a hotel manager in January last year, according to a police investigation into the former police minister.
Keycard logs obtained by investigators show the penthouse was occupied during the period under investigation.
A 370-page police report, completed in April, has recommended that Cele be criminally prosecuted for allegedly receiving unlawful “gratification” from companies linked to Matlala, including luxury penthouse accommodation and hundreds of thousands of rands in cash.
The report lays bare allegations of systemic corruption, fronting and bribery surrounding a controversial SAPS contract — and details a luxury accommodation arrangement involving Cele.
Matlala had leased a penthouse at The Capital Menlyn Maine in Pretoria, a luxury hotel offering a spa, boardrooms and a range of high-end amenities.
On January 27 last year, Matlala sent a WhatsApp message to the hotel’s sales manager, Trucelle Snyman, asking that Cele be given access to the penthouse whenever he was in Pretoria.
“Good day Trucelle, can you kindly do me a favour, there is a friend of mine who’s also a business partner. He is a former minister of police, Mr Bheki Cele. When he is in Pretoria can you please ask management to inform staff at the front desk to grant him access to the penthouse,” Matlala wrote.
Cele, however, has denied receiving any money from Matlala and rejected suggestions that he had political influence over the cancellation of Matlala’s SAPS contract.
Speaking to the Sunday Times this week, Cele said: “If they say I got money, they must show me bank receipts which show that I received the money.”
He also questioned why staying at Matlala’s penthouse would constitute wrongdoing.
“When has it been a crime to sleep there [in Matlala’s penthouse]? What kind of political influence did I have over the police when I had already left in June?”
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