Draft Affidavit Alleges Cash Payments and Government Leases for NHI Scheme
Businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala alleges he was promised government building leases to position his company for National Health Insurance contracts, according to The Sunday Independent. The claims appear in a draft affidavit prepared while Matlala was in custody to support a potential plea agreement with the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption.
The proposed deal collapsed after a magistrate insisted on a 12-year prison sentence instead of an eight-year term, prompting Matlala to withdraw his cooperation. The allegations in the affidavit have not been tested or established in court.
Meetings With Officials and Hospital Lease Arrangements on SAPS Campus
Matlala states in the document that he struggled for two years to secure authorization to operate a hospital on the South African Police Service Tshwane campus, PressReader reported. Sergeant Fannie Nkosi told him that former deputy police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya wanted to help, leading to a 2023 meeting with former deputy public works minister Bernice Swarts at her official residence.
Swarts denied ever meeting Matlala or assisting him with leases. She stated that as a deputy minister, she did not involve herself in departmental administrative matters. Matlala alleges that Sibiya later requested R80,000 for alcohol for a traditional ceremony and another R200,000 for Swarts’s assistance, after which he received the signed lease in mid-December 2023. The draft affidavit does not independently establish that Swarts requested or received the funds.
Tender Allegations Involving Police Officials and Cash Deliveries
Matlala details separate arrangements to help his company, Medicare 24 Tshwane District, secure an SAPS medical-services contract. He claims SAPS employee Brian Neville Cartwright agreed to assist in exchange for R50,000 per payment cycle after billing began. Matlala alleges Sibiya instructed him to place R50,000 in a bathroom bin at SAPS headquarters in January 2024, followed by two separate R500,000 payments after the tender was secured.
According to The Sunday Independent, Matlala also approached former police minister Bheki Cele in December 2024 after the Political Killing Task Team searched his home and seized firearms. Matlala alleges he agreed to a R1 million payment with Cele, handing over R700,000 in a Woolworths bag at a Pretoria penthouse in January 2025 and R300,000 at a Durban hotel in March. Cele publicly denied receiving cash from Matlala but acknowledged staying at his penthouse free of charge. Cele did not respond to subsequent calls and text messages seeking comment.