Compiled by Anita Dangazele
- Matlala and suspended Police Commissioner Masemola appeared together for the first time in Pretoria over the R360 million tender scandal.
- The court moved Matlala from Kokstad back to Kgosi Mampuru jail in Pretoria so he can talk to his lawyers.
Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala and suspended National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola sat in the same dock together for the first time this week. The R360 million SAPS Medicare24 tender case is moving forward.
The pair appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court in connection with the tender matter. Masemola faces charges of breaking the Public Finance Management Act. Matlala and 12 police officers face charges of fraud and money laundering. The 12 officers remain on bail ranging from R40,000 to R80,000.
The case was put off to 26 June 2026 for further investigation and to share the case file.
The court also moved Matlala from the super-maximum eBongweni prison in Kokstad back to Kgosi Mampuru II in Pretoria. He will stay in jail until the next hearing. His legal team argued the Kokstad jail made it nearly impossible to meet with their client.
“It is in the interests of both the state and the defence that he be detained at Kgosi Mampuru prison,” the court heard.
Matlala was sent to eBongweni in December 2025 after he was caught with a cellphone at Kgosi Mampuru. Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald told Parliament in March that the move followed standard rules and that no rights were broken.
He said the inmate was kept at Kgosi Mampuru II until he was found with the contraband and then he was moved to the maximum-security section. There was no investigation into the move because no rules were broken.
Pictured above: Businessman Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala and suspended National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola appeared in court over the R360 million SAPS tender.
Image source: Supplied
