Bheki Cele Had Secret Meetings With Attempted Murder-Accused Cat Matlala at Tenderpreneur’s House

• More details about the former Police Minister Bheki Cele's relationship with tenderpreneur Cat Matlala continue to surface
• Cele and Matlala reportedly met in March in Zimbali, KwaZulu-Natal, a month before Matlala's R360 million tender with the South African Police Service was cancelled
• Matlala and Cele reportedly met on the property of Morgan Maumela, who was allegedly linked to 21 companies doing business with Tembisa Hospital

Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News’ Deputy Head of the Current Affairs desk, South Africa, covered a range of criminal activities, including cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts, and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

KWAZULU-NATAL — More light has been shed on the former Police Minister Bheki Cele's relationship with tendepreneur and attempted murder accused Cat Matlala. It's revealed that Matlala and Cele had a secret meeting at the mansion of another tenderpreneur, Morgan Maumela, who is Cyril Ramaphosa's nephew.

Read also

Julius Malema demands that General Mkhwanazi be subpoenaed before Ad Hoc Committee

According to News24, Cele and Matlala had a meeting at the Zimbali Estate in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal, on 18 March 2025. The villa is owned by Maumela, who has ties to 21 companies that did business with Tembisa Hospital. The meeting happened a month before the South African Police Service (SAPS) cancelled Matlala's R360 million tender for health services.

News24 has WhatsApp messages in which Matlala received entry codes from Matlala for 18 March 2025. Matlala then sent the message to Cele and followed it with a location to the estate.

What did Bheki Cele say?

Cele confirmed that he had met Matlala at a house and was not aware of who owned the house. This was in stark contrast to Maumela's assertions that he was not part of the meeting, although Maumela admitted sending entry codes to Matlala, he distanced himself from the meeting and said that Matlala wanted to book a hotel for a football match in Durban.

Read also

Vusimuzi Matlala allegedly used fake passport to cross into Eswatini, SA jokes he's a foot risk

Cele also did not want to share details on what was discussed during the meeting and said that he would appear before an appropriate forum.

Matlala's relationship with Bheki Cele

Cele's relationship with Matlala came into the spotlight after it was revealed that the former Police Minister frantically contacted Matlala days before he was arrested. Cele blasted Matlala's phone on 9 May 2025 with 10 missed calls throughout the day. Cele said that he was trying to arrange a meeting with Matlala.

Matlala was arrested in May for the attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend, actress and social media influencer Tebogo Thobejane. He appeared in court twice in May and was remanded in custody. During a raid on 6 July at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Services Facility, police found a cellphone in Matlala's possession, and it was confiscated.

Bheki Cele to appear before Parliament

Read also

KZN police charge 2 for 2022 murder, SA applauds as case is part of 121 political killings' dockets

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Cele was summoned to appear as a witness before the Ad Hoc Committee established to investigate KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's allegations.

Cele was listed among the seven witnesses the Ad Hoc Committee called to appear before it. The Committee was established to probe allegations of a criminal syndicate that infiltrated the South African criminal justice system.

Source: Briefly News