Cele tells Parliament of Beverly Hills Hotel meeting with ‘Cat’ Matlala, who he 'knew very well'

Organised crime accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala apparently told former police minister Bheki Cele that he was asked to depose an affidavit that would lead to the arrest of the head of Crime Intelligence.

This is what Cele has testified at Parliament’s ad hoc committee on Thursday, 23 October 2025.

The committee is investigating accusations that a drug trafficking cartel has infiltrated South Africa’s law enforcement and politics.

Watch live: ‘I know Cat Matlala very well’ – Bheki Cele tells Parliament

Cele started testifying on Thursday after sidelined police minister Senzo Mchunu spent several days as a witness.

It is the first time Cele has officially and publicly spoken out about the accusations that form the core of what has developed into an unprecedented policing scandal. 

‘I know him well’

He acknowledged that he knows Matlala, a key figure in the scandal, “very well”.

They met in December 2024.

At the time, Matlala was not facing criminal charges.

He is now accused of being a member of a drug trafficking cartel known as the Big Five, and is also facing attempted murder and money laundering charges.

Cele on Thursday told MPs he met Matlala at Durban’s Beverly Hills Hotel through Bongani “Mabonga” Mpungose, the son of a taxi industry figure.

According to Cele’s testimony, Matlala told him that now-suspended Deputy National Commissioner of Crime Detection, Shadrack Sibiya, wanted him to write an affidavit against Dumisani Khumalo, who headed Crime Intelligence.

Read more: Mchunu uses ‘dangerous man’ crime accused Matlala’s affidavit to defend himself

Khumalo, along with six colleagues, was arrested earlier this year. They face charges, which they have denied, over an allegedly irregular appointment.

As for Matlala, another accusation he faces is that he was supporting the political ambitions of Mchunu and Brown Mogotsi, an ANC-aligned businessman whom Mchunu knows.  

Cele, testifying on Thursday in Parliament, said he did not know Mogotsi.

The accusations against individuals including Sibiya, Matlala and Mchunu were initially made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi during a press conference in July.

It is these accusations that Parliament’s ad hoc committee is investigating.

‘28s and cop capture’

Asked about Mkhwanazi’s accusations on Thursday, Cele pointed out: “General Mkhwanazi is not the first one to make this allegation.”

He then referenced an October 2022 Western Cape Division of the High Court judgment used in a gang-related case. (Read the judgment here.)

It was by Judge Daniel Thulare.

Cele read out a section of the judgment that says: “The evidence further shows that the 28s gang and the Mobsters in particular are breathing heavily on the necks of public prosecutors who guide the investigation of organised crime and institute criminal proceedings against its members. 

“Such prosecutors are under a constant and permanent threat to their lives and that of their close families.”

Read more: 28s gang ‘capture’ top Western Cape cops, prosecutors’ lives at risk — judge sounds corruption alarm 

Daily Maverick was the first to report on this judgment and has written extensively on it.

Another section of the judgment states: “The evidence suggests not only a capture of some lower-ranking officers in the SAPS. 

“The evidence suggests that the senior management of the SAPS in the province has been penetrated to the extent that the 28s gang has access to the table where the Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in the Western Cape sits with his senior managers.”

Read more: The shameful silence about probes into Judge Thulare’s findings of gangster and police collusion

Cele on Thursday referred to this judgment in Parliament to show how accusations similar to Mkhwanazi’s had surfaced before.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has previously told Daily Maverick it was investigating Thulare’s findings. It is not clear what became of this matter, but Cele’s reference to it suggests it may have some merit.

Hired, fired, cleared

Cele’s background was focused on at the Parliamentary ad hoc hearing on Thursday.

He was appointed national police commissioner in 2009, under Jacob Zuma’s presidency.

He was suspended in 2011 and fired the following year over corruption suspicions relating to lease deals and business tycoon Roux Shabangu.

Read more: Bheki Cele: It’s not the minister’s job to arrest people

Years later, in 2019, a court set aside Cele’s dismissal.

Shortly before that, though, Cele became police minister.

He filled this position from February 2018 to June 2024, whereafter Mchunu took over before being placed on special leave in July this year because of the accusations against him.

Cele on Thursday said he did not believe his dismissal had actually stemmed from building lease matters. He said he had suspended Richard Mdluli, who headed Crime Intelligence and was also a Zuma appointee.

Cele therefore inferred that this played a role in his dismissal.

Mdluli is currently facing corruption charges, to which he pleaded not guilty, over accusations relating to the looting of the police’s secret service slush fund.

‘SAPS saved the World Cup’

Cele on Thursday spent some time testifying about 2010, the year after his appointment as police commissioner.

He said that in the run-up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa (an event which subsequently became mired in various controversies), he had been in the Eastern Cape.

South African Football Association president Danny Jordaan had apparently contacted Cele, saying: “There is a crisis coming on. Can I see you with immediate effect?”

Cele said he saw Jordaan that day and it emerged that there was a possibility South Africa was not going to host the World Cup.

Read more:  The 2010 Soccer World Cup led to massive fraud and corruption within law enforcement agencies — Johan Booysen

This is connected to crime in the country.

Cele looked at how “to save” the World Cup and assembled a task team to deal with the issue. Mkhwanazi, who was a brigadier at the time, was among the team members.

Read more: Secrecy cloaks 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust after Danny Jordaan may have been caught in a lie

Cele told MPs on Thursday that British figures were against South Africa hosting the World Cup, but other countries, including Brazil, were in support of it.

He went to Zurich to allay concerns about crime, and also had “to convince” Interpol, the international police organisation.

Cele testified: “To be honest, the nation does not know SAPS saved the World Cup.”

Cele versus Mchunu

Throughout his testimony on Thursday morning and early afternoon, Cele took swipes at Mchunu. For example, Cele emphasised the word “immediate”.

This was because MPs took on Mchunu earlier this week while he was testifying because he dithered over the actual meaning of the word.

Cele on Thursday also referenced the Political Killings Task Team — the PKTT — saying there was no “N” in it.

Read more: Paramilitary structure strengthening in KZN — Mchunu tells Parliament about alleged ‘threat’

This was because Mchunu had said the PKTT was actually a national function and therefore referenced it as the NPKTT.

Mchunu was accused of being influenced to direct the PKTT’s disbandment at the end of last year because certain crime suspects believed this would impair investigations against them.

He denied it.

Cele’s testimony about this and other issues continues in Parliament on Thursday. DM