Inside Cat Matlala’s Explosive Testimony: R500k to Cele, Fearful Raids and the Mysterious ‘Brown Mogotsi Situation’

A high-stakes hearing behind prison walls

The walls of Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre have heard many things, but on Wednesday they became the backdrop for one of the most sensational testimonies of the year. Alleged criminal kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, speaking in a calm, low-pitched voice before Parliament’s ad hoc committee, unpacked a tangled web of cash payments, police intimidation, political middlemen and whispered alliances.

The committee is probing claims of political interference within South Africa’s justice system and Matlala’s appearance was nothing short of explosive.

His name has dominated headlines since KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s bombshell press conference on 6 July, linking Matlala to a series of political and criminal undercurrents.

Now, for the first time publicly, Matlala offered his version of events.

The #AdHocCommittee established to investigate allegations made by @SAPoliceService KZN Head Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is today listening to evidence by Mr Vusimuzi Matlala. The hearings are being held at the Kgoši Mampuru Correctional Centre in Tshwane.… pic.twitter.com/z7tqrzIIQc

Justice-and-security-Cluster (@JustSecuCluster) November 26, 2025

The attempted murder case that started it all

Matlala has been behind bars since 14 May, following his arrest in connection with the attempted murder of socialite and former partner Tebogo Thobejane. His bail was denied on 27 October, setting the stage for this unprecedented testimony.

Public reaction on social media has been intense:

• “This feels like a Netflix pilot episode.”

• “If even half of this is true, SA is finished.”

• “Every day the country is a new season of Gomora.”

South Africans clearly don’t know whether to laugh, panic, or simply take notes.

The raid that changed everything

During his testimony, Matlala revisited a day he says he cannot forget even though he admits his memory is often patchy due to solitary confinement.

On 6 December 2024, heavily armed officers, reportedly members of the political killings task team (PKTT) stormed his Waterkloof Ridge home. He claims the raid was linked to the search for kidnapped businessman Jerry Boshoga, a man he repeatedly called “a very close friend.”

According to Matlala:

• Masked gunmen stormed the house

• His children screamed in terror

• Firearms, watches, laptops and phones were confiscated

• He was questioned about senior police officials, including Shadrack Sibiya and Police Minister Senzo Mchunu

• And most critically, he saw no warrant

The ordeal lasted seven hours.

The next day he went to Brooklyn Police Station to open a case only to be turned away.

That moment, he said, is when “things started getting strange.”

Enter Brown Mogotsi: The political fixer who ‘just appeared’

After being refused at the police station, Matlala received a call from a man he’d never met: Oupa Brown Mogotsi.

Mogotsi presented himself as someone linked to Minister Mchunu’s office and instructed Matlala to open a case at Protea North. Even then, Matlala never received a case number.

He admitted he didn’t question how Mogotsi got his number.

“If you are sick and someone brings you the cure, you don’t ask where the medicine comes from,” he said.

This is where the infamous “Brown Mogotsi situation” began.

The second raid and a meeting arranged with Cele

A second raid followed on 18 December, this time at Matlala’s company offices. Again, balaclavas, paramilitary gear and confiscated firearms.

Frustrated, Matlala says he turned to late businessman Bongani “Mabonga” Mpungose, who then arranged something extraordinary:
a sit-down meeting between Matlala and then Police Minister Bheki Cele.

The meeting took place on 23 December at the exclusive Beverly Hills Hotel in KwaZulu-Natal.

Cele allegedly promises relief, for a price

According to Matlala, Cele told him all his problems would “go away” if he withdrew a court application against the police. He complied immediately, calling his lawyer that night.

He also claims Cele phoned Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo during the meeting, remarking that Matlala had been caught “in a Zulu war” a phrase Matlala says he still doesn’t fully understand.

When he returned to Pretoria, his firearms were mysteriously returned.

Payments to Mogotsi and the alleged R500k to Cele

Matlala told the committee that Mogotsi soon requested money, allegedly to “secure accommodation for officers investigating the raids”.

He paid.

Then came another request: funding for the ANC’s January 8 celebrations.
He said he paid between R150 000 and R200 000.

But the biggest allegation was still to come.

The R500 000

According to Matlala:

• He paid Cele R300 000 in cash at his Menlyn Maine apartment in January

• He paid another R200 000 in March at the same Beverly Hills Hotel

• Both payments, he claimed, were tied to Cele supposedly “helping” with his firearms issue

• Cele allegedly asked for transport to a wedding in Lanseria; Matlala arranged it

• He says Cele even stayed at his penthouse, a “freebie”, according to Cele

Matlala says he eventually stopped taking Cele’s calls because Cele “wanted more money”.

Days later, he was arrested.

A system cracking under its own weight

What Matlala’s testimony reveals, whether one believes him or not is a disturbing picture of:

• Police operating with impunity

• Political fixers contacting accused individuals

• Ministers allegedly using their proximity to power for personal gain

• A justice system so fractured that even criminals aren’t sure who to trust

Some South Africans view Matlala’s claims as the desperate ramblings of a man trying to save himself. Others believe he simply said what many have whispered for years:
that politics, policing and criminal networks have become tangled in ways that are no longer distinguishable.

What happens next?

For now, the committee continues its inquiry. The individuals implicated, including Cele and Mchunu will likely face pressure to respond formally.

Meanwhile, the public watches closely, half-fascinated, half-terrified.

Because underneath the sensational claims lies a more uncomfortable truth:
South Africans no longer know where the line between government and gangsterism begins or ends.

And that, more than anything Matlala said, may be the real crisis.

{Source: The Citizen}

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