“I Do Not Have Friend a Called Cat” Says Cele

(The Post News) – Allegations of text messages and phone calls between Former Police Minister Bheki Cele and murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala including free accommodation, as well as a retraction of evidence in regards to alleged payments that were prominently featured before the Ad HOC Committee which is investigating allegations made by SAPS KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

During Cele’s appearance before the Committee, he firmly slammed all friendship allegations with Matlala saying: “I do not have a friend called Cat.” Cele informed the Committee that he initially believed that Matlala was a “cool guy” until he began learning more about his alleged criminal dealings which resulted in him questioning how Matlala managed to “remain under the radar”.

Bheki Cele Disclosed Critical Information

Cele gave confirmation that he indeed did stay “for free” at Matlala’s luxury penthouse. He denied sending Matlala any text or WhatsApp messages.

The Committee heard that Cele met Matla during December 2024 at Durban’s Beverly Hills Hotel where he was introduced to him by Bongani “Mabonga” Mpungose, son to a renowned taxi figure.

According to the testimony given by Cele, Matlala had claimed that the suspended Deputy National Commissioner of Crime Detection, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, had asked him to draft an affidavit against Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, the also Head of Crime Intelligence.

Cele stated that he chose to engage with Matlala further on the matter with the attempt to obtain information that might have had the potential to protect Lietenant General Khumalo whom he described as a “good cop”.

Bheki Cele further stated that he was in knowledge of some of the allegations made by Mkhwanazi during a July 2025 press conference. He informed the Committee that he was surprised by some aspects of that briefing, in particular the reference to General Sibiya as a “criminal”.

He further added on to this statement by saying that while those remarks were uncalled for, he believed that they were warranted for proper investigation for the sole purpose of establishing facts.

He confirmed that having seen Mchunu’s letter disbanding the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) and expressed astonishment to its contents. Cele, who is responsible for establishing the PKTT during 2018 in response to the rise in political killings in KZN, defended the team’s continued relevance and effectiveness, his argument being that the team was/is performing vital work.

He blatantly disagreed with Mchunu’s reasoning to why he initiated the disbandment and said the task team remained a valuable structure despite all associated costs.

Cele further informed the Committee that SAPS spend over R1 Million to train a task force member only for it to lose 56 members of the team to private security companies that provide support to the taxi industry.

Mkhwanazi Subjected To Retract Statement Before Ad HOC Committee

In conclusion of Cele’s testimony, the Committee was informed that Mkhwanazi had sent a text message to evidence leaders retracting part of his earlier evidence. In that portion, Mkhwanazi allegedly received a certain amount of money from Matlala through a 3rd-party account.

Norman Arendse, who is an evidence leader informed the Committee that the following he text, Mkhwanazi confirmed through conversation that the allegation has been withdrawn. He further explained that the investigative team made an error in the bank account number and the reference was irrelevant to Cele.

Arendse stated: “The allegation is withdrawn, with due apologies from Mkhwanazi for any inconvenience or hurt caused.”

Committee members were not satisfied that a text message or phone call was sufficient enough to close this matter. Some of the Committee members suggested that Mkhwanazi be subjected to appear before the Committee to formally retract the allegation and issue a public apology.

Committe Chairperson, Molapi Soviet Lekganyane warned members not to question Cele regarding the withdrawn matter and mentioned that Mkhwanazi will be required to mend his own sworn statement.

Lekganyane said: “The Committee will decide whether to invite him to return so that where a public apology is necessary, it can be made formally. It would be appropriate for such an apology to be presented in the same forum where the statement was made, allowing members to seek clarity and ensuring the apology is properly recorded and conveyed to Cele and the South African public.”