SAPS senior was romantically involved with Matlala, Madlanga Commission hears

The section head for quality management at the South African Police Service (SAPS), Rachel Matjeng, has told the Madlanga Commission she had a romantic relationship with alleged crime boss Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala

But Matjeng insists she played no role in him scoring a R360 million tender with the police service.

Matjeng is testifying at the commission in Pretoria on Thursday.

The inquiry was established to probe possible criminal infiltration in the country’s justice system.

The focus for Thursday has been on an irregular multimillion-rand health tenderb awarded to Matlala’s company, Medicare24, in June 2024.

Matjeng said she met Matlala in 2017, way before she became SAPS sectional head for quality management.

“I met Matlala in early 2017 through a colleague who downloaded my photo on her WhatsApp status. The following day she told me that my picture has attracted a lot of people and there is a guy named ‘Cat’ who requested her my contact. She asked for my permission if she should give him my contact, I then asked for more information about this ‘Cat’ guy and she briefly described him.

“I then gave her permission to give Mr Matlala my contact number. We then started talking with ‘Cat’ and ended having a romantic relationship. We had an on-and-off cycle relationship. Sometimes we would even get a year break from one another without even talking to each other. The romantic relationship (was) still in existence before his arrest. Mr Matlala is romantic and showered me gifts including money.”

Matjeng said she never played any role in the awarding of the tender to Matlala’s company.

“It must be noted I was not part of the bid specification committee or bid evaluation committee nor bid adjudication committee and was not aware of the service providers that submitted the bids for the tender.”