Alleged underworld kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the state in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday.
In terms of the agreement, he pleaded guilty to fraud, corruption and money laundering.
The court is yet to determine the extent of the sentence deviation included in the agreement.
His appearance comes a day after his case was separated from that of his co-accused in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, allowing him to be dealt with on his own.
Among the co-accused is suspended national police commissioner Fannie Masemola.
The charges stem from a health-services contract awarded by the SA Police Service to Matlala’s company, Medicare24 Tshwane District.
The tender was budgeted at roughly R360m, but the state said the contract, ultimately concluded for about R228m, should never have gone through.
It was cancelled in May 2025 after an internal audit flagged irregularities, by which point at least R50m had already been paid out.
In court on Thursday, the magistrate said he had been approached on Wednesday to hear whether he could accommodate the proceedings, and asked the state to confirm the plea and sentencing agreement.
The state then read affidavits from senior investigators setting out the deal.
It said Matlala had indicated he wanted to enter into a plea and sentence agreement and would plead guilty to fraud.
The court heard he paid police officer Rachel Matjeng, with R300,000 referenced in the investigating officer’s affidavit.
On the money laundering charges, the state said Matlala would plead guilty to all counts.
Reading out the charges, prosecutors confirmed he was facing fraud, money laundering and corruption.
The state also read an affidavit from SAPS Chief Risk Officer Charity Matlou, the complainant.
She said she understood the accused would plead guilty, that she had been informed of the charges against him and that she agreed with the deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence.
Matlala told the court that all his rights had been explained to him.
Matlala is a Pretoria-based tenderpreneur and security boss from Mamelodi who owns Cat VIP Protection Services and has become one of the central figures in SA’s police-corruption scandal.
The state has alleged that police officials favoured Matlala and Medicare24 in awarding the tender, despite the company allegedly lacking the facilities, equipment and staff to deliver on it.
The co-accused who were separated from Matlala’s case, including several senior police officers, are expected back in court on Friday.
Matlala remains in custody at the C-Max section of Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre, where he is held as a high-risk inmate, and also faces a separate trial on 25 charges, including 11 counts of attempted murder, scheduled to begin in July.
IOL
