Cele’s allegations — the murder and the Mchunu project for ANC presidency

Former police minister and national cop boss Bheki Cele has detailed how an alleged push for the ANC presidency is one of the many subplots making up South Africa’s rapidly growing policing scandal.

He has also confirmed that he twice stayed at Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s penthouse in Pretoria – this was after Matlala’s home was raided and before Matlala was charged with attempted murder and money laundering.

But Cele had also said: “He’s definitely not a friend.”

He made this statement, along with several exceptionally worrying admissions and allegations, on Thursday, 23 October 2025, when he was testifying at Parliament’s ad hoc committee.

The Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate Allegations by@SAPoliceServiceKZN head Gen Mkhwanazi #adhocMkhwanazi former police min Bheki Cele says “Cat” Matlala is not his friend and not his business partner but an acquaintance #PKTT ParliamentofRSA @NPA_Prosecutes ⁦ pic.twitter.com/A2Ft6NIu4I

— Justice-and-security-Cluster (@JustSecuCluster) October 23, 2025

The committee is investigating various accusations, including that a drug cartel has infiltrated politics and policing in South Africa.

Another accusation is that Matlala is a member of a drug trafficking cartel known as the Big Five.

Matlala was also alleged to have financially backed the political aspirations of sidelined Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, and an ANC-aligned businessman Mchunu knows, Brown Mogotsi.

Mchunu, who testified at Parliament’s ad hoc committee hearings before Cele earlier this week and last week, told MPs he was not linked to any drug cartel and knew Mogotsi only as a political comrade.

He has also reiterated that he did not direct the disbandment of the police’s political killings task team (PKTT), based in KwaZulu-Natal, for any untoward reasons.

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

Cele’s testimony on Thursday clipped into these allegations. 

Matlala and the murdered Mabonga

According to Cele, he met Matlala in December 2024 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban, which Cele described as a “high-end” location where he ate breakfast regularly.

The meeting was set up by Bongani Mpungose, referred to during the ad hoc proceedings as Mabonga, who had ties to private security and who was the son of a figure in the taxi industry, aspects of which are known for violence.

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

Cele told MPs that Mabonga was subsequently murdered during a shooting in Sandton, Gauteng, where he had been with two bodyguards.

(There were news reports of a shooting that happened outside a Sandton restaurant in March in which two bodyguards were killed along with an individual whose surname was Mabonga.)

Read more: Witness details deadly Sandton restaurant shootout that killed three people and left four injured

During Thursday’s proceedings, EFF leader Julius Malema put it to Cele that Mabonga “was a well-known thug”.

Cele responded that he knew Mabonga had a criminal record.

Later during proceedings, Cele also said he spoke to various taxi industry figures, including KwaZulu-Natal taxi boss Mandla Gcaba, about their activities.

Back to Cele’s December 2024 meeting with Matlala.

He told MPs he had not expected to meet him at the Beverly Hills Hotel with Mabonga and at first was not certain of who he was.

But he had read a news article on Matlala (which had not painted Matlala in a good light) and asked if he was the same person, which Matlala confirmed.

According to Cele, Matlala had explained at the meeting he was worried that he was caught up in a police fight.

Mchunu and ANC ambition allegations

Matlala apparently said he had been approached to fund a project by a figure eyeing the position of ANC president or deputy president.

This, it appears, based on Cele’s testimony, was Mchunu.

Cele said that Matlala told him he met Mchunu and Mogotsi to discuss the project he was asked to fund.

Earlier this week, Daily Maverick reported that Mchunu had testified that he had never met Matlala.

His exact words were: “I have never seen him [with] my naked eye.” 

Read more: Mkhwanazi twisted what I said about comrade Brown Mogotsi, Mchunu tells Parliament

Mchunu had also insisted that while he had known Mogotsi for eight years, he was not close to him.

This now contradicts Cele's testimony. 

Cele told MPs on Thursday that Matlala had discussed another issue with him.

This related to Deputy National Commissioner of Crime Detection Shadrack Sibiya, who was suspended over other accusations against him which are part of this overall scandal.

The raid and the Rolex

According to Cele’s allegations, Matlala had claimed that Sibiya wanted him to lodge a complaint about a raid that happened at Matlala’s home on 6 December last year, which was in the run-up to his arrest in May.

A Gauteng counterintelligence unit had conducted the raid.

It previously emerged via the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, which is running parallel to the parliamentary ad hoc committee and investigating the same accusations, that a group of PKTT members had gone to Gauteng to assist the counterintelligence unit.

Cele alleged in Parliament on Thursday that Sibiya allegedly asked Matlala to sign an affidavit saying a Rolex watch and jewellery had been stolen by the PKTT members deployed to Gauteng, who fell under the command of Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo. 

(Sibiya has not yet had a chance to publicly and officially comment on these specific allegations by Cele.)

Read more: Sibiya challenges Mkhwanazi amid growing tensions in South African police force

The affidavit Matlala was meant to pass off as his own had allegedly been written by Sibiya.

It can be surmised that pressing ahead with this plan could have rendered the raid unlawful and also reflected poorly on Khumalo.

Daily Maverick has previously reported that Khumalo, with six colleagues, was arrested earlier this year on charges relating to an allegedly irregular appointment.

They denied wrongdoing.

Read more: SA’s ongoing capture — Mkhwanazi’s accusations and countering charges merge with past state sabotage

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi fits in here.

He is the source of the initial high-level accusations that sparked the creation of Parliament’s ad hoc committee and the Madlanga Commission.

Mkhwanazi has been a witness at both sets of hearings and has previously said that Khumalo’s arrest was part of a plan to derail critical investigations to the benefit of certain crime suspects.

(This is similar to the accusations about why Mchunu directed the PKTT disbandment, which Mchunu has denied.)

On Thursday, during the ad hoc committee proceedings, evidence leader advocate Norman Arendse SC put it to Cele that, based on what he testified, it appeared that Matlala wanted to draw him “into a conspiracy to neutralise Khumalo”.

Cele said that from his view, Khumalo was being “put in a trap”.

He stayed in touch with Matlala, via Mabonga (who was subsequently murdered), after their first meeting because Matlala was feeding him information.

Maumela and the Tembisa Hospital looting 

Cele confirmed on Thursday that he had twice stayed at Matlala’s penthouse in Pretoria, on his invitation.

While answering questions from MPs, Cele said he was fine with accepting hospitality.

He explained: “I’m not in government. If in government, I would have declared, but I declare to nobody now.”

Cele also testified on Thursday about how he once met up with Matlala at Zimbali Estate in Durban - at a residence he says he realised only later belonged to Hangwani Maumela. 

Read more: Law enforcement raids homes of tender tycoon Hangwani Maumela and suspended police officer Shadrack Sibiya

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has linked Maumela to one of several syndicates involved in looting to the tune of R2-billion at Gauteng’s Tembisa Hospital.

In a statement issued last month, the SIU said it was investigating issues involving about R816-million “related to the Maumela syndicate and has completed 924 analyses, uncovering significant irregularities”.

It also said it had traced 41 service providers linked to Maumela and that three companies awarded contracts involving about R13.5-million were linked to Matlala.

During Thursday’s proceedings in Parliament, Cele, in referring to Matlala, told MPs: “Now I wish that I could not have met him.” DM