South Africa: 'Cat' Matlala Must Wait Two More Weeks for His Final Sentence

Magistrate Ignatius du Preez rejected Matlala's eight-year plea deal, proposing 12 years in prison for fraud, corruption and money laundering.

Vusumuzi 'Cat' Matlala returns to the Pretoria court on 13 July after he and the State failed to agree on his final sentence.

Vusumuzi 'Cat' Matlala will have to wait another two weeks to find out how long he will spend in prison. The court postponed his case to 13 July after he and the State could not agree on a final sentence.

Matlala pleaded guilty on 25 June to seven counts of fraud, corruption and money laundering, linked to a R228 million SAPS tender awarded to his company, Medicare24 Tshwane District. The tender was advertised at R360 million and was cancelled last year after an audit found irregularities. By then, his company had already been paid about R50 million.

Under his deal with the National Prosecuting Authority, Matlala would serve an effective eight years in prison in exchange for testifying against senior police officers. But magistrate Ignatius du Preez rejected that deal as too soft.

Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn

Du Preez proposed a tougher sentence, 15 years for fraud, with seven suspended, plus 10 years each for corruption and money laundering, running mostly alongside the fraud sentence. The net result would be 12 years behind bars, four more than Matlala had bargained for.

The magistrate was not convinced Matlala was genuinely remorseful. He said Matlala only agreed to cooperate after he was already in custody on another matter, and that his cooperation looked more like a bargaining chip than regret.

"These offences were committed out of greed and for no other reason," Du Preez said.

Matlala has not been convicted or sentenced. He remains a high-risk inmate at the C-Max section of Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre, where he also faces a separate trial on 25 charges, including 11 counts of attempted murder.

The case forms part of the Madlanga Commission's probe into corruption in the police service. Matlala's co-accused include a dozen senior police officers and Medicare24 managing director James Murray, along with suspended national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola. That case was postponed to 28 August.