Cat Matlala’s affidavit lifts lid on cash deals and promises over leases for NHI contracts
Businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala alleges that he was promised help securing government buildings to position his company for contracts under the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme.
According to The Sunday Independent, the claims appear in a draft affidavit detailing his alleged dealings with senior police officials, former deputy public works minister Bernice Swarts and former police minister Bheki Cele.
Matlala alleges that Swarts offered to help him secure a lease to operate a hospital on the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Tshwane campus and obtain additional government buildings.
Swarts denied the allegations, saying she had never met Matlala. She also denied assisting him with the lease or promising buildings for his NHI plans.
“As a deputy minister, I did not even get myself involved in the administration matters in the department,” she said.
The allegations in the draft affidavit have not been established in court.
Matlala’s alleged NHI plans
Matlala prepared the document while in custody to support a request to become a state witness or pursue a plea agreement relating to his company’s SAPS medical-services contract.
According to the supplied account, a proposed agreement with the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption would have involved an eight-year prison sentence and testimony against implicated individuals.
The arrangement fell through after a magistrate insisted on a 12-year sentence, prompting Matlala to withdraw his cooperation.
In the affidavit, Matlala says he had struggled for about two years to secure authorisation for the hospital lease when Sergeant Fannie Nkosi told him that former deputy police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya wanted to help.
He alleges that Sibiya arranged a meeting with Swarts at her official residence in 2023.
Matlala claims Swarts discussed helping him obtain more buildings from Public Works so his business would have a footprint ahead of NHI implementation.
The affidavit does not establish that any NHI contract was awarded to his company.
Alleged payments over hospital lease
Matlala alleges that Sibiya told him Swarts wanted R80,000 to buy alcohol for a traditional ceremony.
He claims he handed the cash to Sibiya at OR Tambo International Airport to pass on to her.
Matlala further alleges that Sibiya subsequently requested another R200,000, purportedly for Swarts’s assistance with the lease.
He says he made the money available and received the signed lease in mid-December 2023.
The draft affidavit does not independently establish that Swarts requested or received either payment.
SAPS medical-services tender allegations
Matlala also details alleged arrangements to help his company, Medicare 24 Tshwane District, secure a separate SAPS medical-services contract.
He claims SAPS employee Brian Neville Cartwright agreed to assist the company in winning the tender in exchange for R50,000 after each payment cycle once Medicare began billing SAPS.
Matlala alleges that Sibiya also offered assistance with the tender.
He claims that during a January 2024 visit to Sibiya’s office at SAPS headquarters, he placed R50,000 in a bin in the officer’s private bathroom on Sibiya’s instructions.
After Medicare secured the contract, Matlala alleges, Sibiya requested R500,000 for work done to secure the tender.
He claims he handed over the money and later paid another R500,000 after being told the first payment had gone to a senior police official he knew as General Fanie.
Matlala also alleges that he supplied Sibiya with 20 impalas and was asked to buy a R4 million property in Midrand.
He says he abandoned the proposed purchase because he believed the demands would continue.
The allegations do not establish that the payments secured the tender.
Matlala alleges R1 million agreement with Cele
Matlala says he approached Cele in December 2024 after the Political Killing Task Team searched his home and business premises and seized firearms.
He alleges that they met at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban on December 23, where Cele offered to help resolve his difficulties with police.
According to Matlala, Cele later offered assistance with the medical-services contract, and they agreed on a R1 million payment.
Matlala claims he handed Cele R700,000 in cash in a Woolworths bag at a Menlyn Maine penthouse in Pretoria in January 2025.
He alleges that he paid the remaining R300,000 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in March.
Cele did not respond to calls and text messages seeking comment on the allegations. He has publicly denied receiving cash from Matlala but acknowledged staying at his Menlyn penthouse free of charge.
Matlala further alleges that Cele wanted him to buy a R6 million retirement property in Trafalgar, KwaZulu-Natal, and later requested another R300,000 for vehicle repairs.
He says he decided against making further payments.
Matlala also claims Cele supplied notes to help Medicare respond to SAPS concerns about alleged breach of contract and poor performance.
However, he acknowledged that the alleged intervention did not prevent SAPS from terminating the contract.
“I realised that Cele’s intervention, if any, did not assist at all, as Medicare’s contract was terminated by the SAPS,” Matlala states.
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