Officers in the dock over ‘Cat’ Matlala R360m contract
The NPA’s Independent Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) has arrested 12 police officers implicated in the award of a R360m police health contract to alleged crime kingpin Vusimusi ‘Cat’ Matlala’s company Medicare 24 Tshwane District.
In a recently released statement, the NPA and Idac said they effected the arrest of 12 senior police officers and a director of a company in relation to the irregular awarding of a tender to Medicare 24.
The officers arrested yesterday are Major General Busisiwe Temba, Brigadier Kirsty Jonker, Brigadier Petunia Lenono (retired), Brigadier Ofentse Thlhoale, Brigadier Rachel Matjeng, Brigadier Alpheus Ngema, Brigadier Patrick Nethengwe, Colonel Tumisho Maleka, Colonel Nonjabulo Mngadi, Colonel Anton Paulsen, Colonel Johannes Monyai and Captain Brian Cartwright.
James Murray, the managing director of the Medicare24 Group, was also arrested.
TimesLIVE reports that the contract was cancelled in December. The cohort of officers, News24 can reveal, are alleged to have acted in league with Matlala, rubberstamping a bid underpinned by fraud. This paved the way for Matlala’s company, Medicare24 Tswane District, to be paid more than R50m. Most of the arrested police officers were members of the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC).
Matlala was charged while held in custody and the officers were arrested in a series of raids across Gauteng on Tuesday. This follows a year-long probe by Idac focused on allegations of bid-rigging, fronting and collusion.
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.
Daily Maverick notes that under the leadership of the new NDPP 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.
The health contract, awarded in 2024, has been at the centre of proceedings of the commission and a parliamentary inquiry into crime networks infiltrating SA’s criminal justice system. The arrests do not appear to include the top police officers named at the commission or in Parliament.
DM reports that Matlala allegedly bribed top police officers, including generals, to facilitate the award of the contract. The 12 police officers will today appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court 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.
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.
Idac’s investigation was set in motion by a News24 investigation titled 9 Lives, which first revealed how the 49-year-old won the tender while under investigation for procurement fraud tied to the R2.3bn Tembisa Hospital scandal.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
