By Dylan Bettencourt
- Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala is set to be charged over failed assassination attempts on taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni and DJ Vettys.
- Three suspected hitmen arrested with guns allegedly linked to at least 10 killings.
Tender kingpin Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala has been linked to two failed assassination attempts involving taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni and DJ Vettys.
According to News24, Matlala is facing charges tied to these attacks, plus others involving his ex-girlfriend, Tebogo Thobejane. He’s also in court for conspiracy, attempted murder and money laundering.
Three suspected hitmen, Musa Kekana, Tlego Floyd Mabusela and Michael Pule Tau, were arrested, and tests on their guns allegedly link them to at least 10 killings. Matlala is believed to be the mastermind.
Sibanyoni, known as “Joe Ferrari”, survived a 2022 ambush in Centurion when four men fired rifles at his car. He was unharmed, but a young man with him was shot. A security guard shot back.
In January last year, DJ Vettys, real name Seunkie Mokubung, was also wounded in a targeted attack in Pretoria West.
Matlala’s case was postponed two weeks ago in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court to combine it with other cases, including Sibanyoni’s and Mokubung’s dockets from the Lyttelton and Pretoria West police stations.
News24 also revealed that ANC figure Brown Mogotsi allegedly acted as a go-between for Mchunu and Matlala in a secret plan to shut down the police’s political killings task team, a move that would have helped Matlala, who was under investigation in Thobejane’s case. Mchunu denies knowing him.
Matlala also had ties to former police minister Bheki Cele, who stayed in a fancy Pretoria penthouse owned by Matlala. Cele confirmed the stays but said they weren’t friends.
Last year, Matlala scored R360-million from a police health tender through his company, Medicare24 Tshwane District. He pocketed R50-million before the contract was axed because of fraud allegations.
Whistleblower Babita Deokaran flagged three companies linked to him shortly before her murder.
With his tender windfall, Matlala splurged on luxury homes, flashy cars and designer clothes. His mansion in Midstream Ridge is one of the estate’s biggest.
But it’s not his first brush with the law. Matlala has been investigated at least 13 times for theft, robbery, attempted murder and more. In 2016, he was charged with a convicted killer who escaped court. In 2006, he was arrested for a cash-in-transit heist but walked free.
Some say he got the nickname “Cat” after surviving gunshots in a robbery, like a cat with nine lives. In Mamelodi slang, a heist is also called a “katse” (the Setswana word for cat).
Matlala and his co-accused are due back in court on 26 August.
Pictured above: Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala.
Image source: @GeneralMkhwanaz
