Defence brands state witness ‘belligerent’ in Cat Matlala attempted murder trial

The attempted murder trial of alleged underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala opened on 20 July 2026 at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg and saw a heated exchange in court on 23 July when defence counsel accused a state witness of being “belligerent”.

Who is on trial and how the case is scheduled

The accused in the matter include Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and his wife, Tsakane Matlala, together with alleged hitmen Musa Kekana and Tiego Floyd Mabusela, and Mabusela’s daughter, Nthabiseng Zandile Nzama. They face a total of 25 charges linked to a series of serious criminal allegations, including attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, fraud, money laundering and defeating the ends of justice.

The trial timetable runs from 20 July to 7 August 2026, and will continue from 31 August to 18 September 2026.

Courtroom confrontation over witness conduct

On 23 July 2026, defence lawyer Annelene van den Heever criticised state witness Bethwell Mzamo Cele during cross-examination, saying the witness had been “belligerent” and uncooperative.

“From the time you were first cross-examined two days, you were belligerent. You answer questions with questions. You just refuse to cooperate in this court, and I am going to argue to the court that it must reject your evidence,”

The witness replied in court: “That is not true.”

Disputed recollections and forensic points

Cele, a former Bidvest Protea Coin security guard, has been giving evidence about a shootout he said involved two armed men and followed a 10 August 2022 shooting at the Centurion Residential Estate and Country Club in which taxi boss Johannes “Joe Ferrari” Sibanyoni was reportedly shot.

Under cross-examination, van den Heever challenged Cele on several points: his decision-making and training on firearms; how he identified the victim at the scene; and discrepancies between his oral testimony and earlier sworn statements. The defence noted that his earlier statements did not mention that he had fired shots in self-defence.

Cele told the court he had fired at least 15 rounds from an employer-issued Sarsılmaz 9mm firearm during the incident and said he returned fire when he was shot at. He also told the court he could not identify the shooters because of poor lighting and that he later learned the identity of the injured person from others.

The defence additionally raised a forensic point, saying that none of the cartridges collected from the scene were linked to a 9mm firearm, which they said contradicted Cele’s claim that he fired multiple shots. Cele rejected that assertion, saying, “Those are lies.”

Discrepancies in statements

Van den Heever highlighted contradictions between Cele’s testimony and his three sworn statements, including a typed affidavit that she said contained a reference to gunfire directed at him after he took cover. Cele described one such discrepancy as an administrative error, saying, “It’s the typist’s problem, not mine.”

The defence suggested those inconsistencies and the witness’s courtroom conduct undermined his credibility and said it would ask the court to reject his evidence.

Next steps

The trial was set to resume on Friday, with the state expected to call a new witness.