AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY: Anti-corruption directorate arrests 12 police officers over R360m ‘Cat’ Matlala contract

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) Independent Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) has arrested 12 police officers implicated in the award of a R360-million police health contract to alleged crime kingpin Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala’s company Medicare 24 Tshwane District.

The contract, awarded in 2024, has been at the centre of proceedings of the Madlanga Commission and a parliamentary inquiry into crime networks infiltrating South Africa’s criminal justice system. The arrests do not appear to include the top police officers named at the commission or in Parliament.

Matlala allegedly bribed top police officers, including generals, to facilitate the award of the contract. The 12 police officers will appear in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, March 25, on charges of corruption related to the contract, said NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago. They appear to be supply chain management police who handled the tender.

“The NPA’s Idac … effected an arrest of 12 senior police officers and a director of a company in relation to the awarding of a tender to Medicare 24. All accused are expected to make their first appearance before the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on charges of corruption, fraud and contravention of the PFMA [Public Finance Management Act],” said Kganyago late on Tuesday night.

The contract was for:

• Wellness screenings and medical surveillance;
• Assessment of ill-health retirement and temporary incapacity leave;
• Injury on duty medical assessments; and
• Pre-employment medical screenings for the SAPS.

The Madlanga Commission and Parliament’s ad-hoc inquiry into allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has heard that the company bypassed standard bidding processes, and Matlala paid off police officers with cash and gifts to lay the ground for the contract’s award.

The arrests came on the day the Madlanga Commission adjourned for the Easter break after 89 days of hearings, with 49 witnesses appearing to date. The testimony has shocked the nation, revealing how crime kingpins, mainly, but not only Matlala, inveigled their way into the top ranks of the SA Police Service, creating networks of access.

Breaking from the “wait-and-see” approach of the Zondo Commission into State Capture, the NPA is charging suspects while the Madlanga Commission is still under way. Under the leadership of the new National Director of Public Prosecutions, Andy Mothibi, Idac head Andrea Johnson is moving to dismantle police capture networks immediately, rather than waiting for a final report to embolden corrupt actors.

Mothibi took office on February 1, succeeding Shamila Batohi.

Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson earlier cancelled the Medicare 24 Tshwane District lease agreement with the state, another example of more rapid action to crack down on grand corruption. Numerous surveys show that the real-time live-streaming of corruption has significantly dented trust in institutions of the criminal justice system and of government.

Information obtained by Daily Maverick suggests the 12 police officers, whose names are known to the publication, are at a lower level than those who have been suspended pending investigation after being named at the Madlanga Commission. Matlala is in jail awaiting trial. DM