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Alleged underworld kingpin Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala has, in a seismic turn of events, admitted to his role in a fraudulent tender awarded to his company by the South African Police — a move that will see him spill the beans on senior police officials.Matlala, through his attorneys, told the court on Thursday that he is co-operating with the state in exchange for a reduced sentence.Under the proposed deal he entered into with the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), Matlala will be sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment on fraud and money-laundering charges in exchange for crucial evidence. The offence carries a 15-year sentence.NPA advocate Santos Manilall, in arguing for the plea agreement to be made an order of the court, said Matlala committed to give the state evidence that could lead to the arrest and conviction of other high-ranking police officers.Manilall said that through Matlala’s evidence the state will “for the first time” be able to pursue very high-ranking officials.“What will come out will actually appease the public because for the first time the state will not be criticised for just pursuing less high-ranking officials,” he said.“Corruption is such a clandestine offence and it is difficult for the state to prove such cases.“For the first time, we have an accused who has come forward and given us detail that we would not have been made aware of. That evidence we would not have been able to obtain; that would have resulted in a travesty of justice and resulted in key figures of [the] SAPS not being charged. That would … [have caused] a public outcry.” Brig Rachel Matjeng and 15 others, including Matlala, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court in March on corruption charges relating to the R228m tender, which was unlawfully awarded to Matlala’s company.In his plea agreement, Matlala admits to having paid multimillion-rand kickbacks to secure the contract, dealing a near-fatal blow to his fellow co-accused. The plea agreement and sentencing are subject to an endorsement by the court.Matlala will still face other charges. Suspended deputy commissioner responsible for detectives, Shadrack Sibiya, has been heavily linked to Matlala. And so has former minister of police Bheki Cele, to whom Matlala claims he gave money, a claim Cele has denied.While the NPA argued that Matlala’s co-operation will strengthen its case against senior police officials, the proposed plea agreement has drawn criticism in some quarters.DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach, a former senior prosecutor, said the plea deal is a “disastrous mistake”.Breytenbach compared the proposed agreement with that of former Bosasa executive Angelo Agrizzi — which saw him sentenced to 10 years’ direct imprisonment, but the sentence was wholly suspended for five years. “No-one has yet been prosecuted as a result of the information purportedly gained by way of the plea agreement, and it remains doubtful in the extreme if Agrizzi will ever testify against anyone, as he will simply claim his poor health prevents it. South Africa cannot afford another Agrizzi,” she said. Other legal experts said the plea agreement will stand or fall on whether Matlala’s evidence against top police officials will survive brutal legal scrutiny.Advocate Inez Bezuidenhout, legal analyst and University of the Free State law faculty lecturer, told Business Day that Matlala could be a crucial witness for the state in the attempt to clean up the police. Bezuidenhout, however, warned that Matlala’s testimony would be subjected to rigorous cross-examination.“The fact that he was part of it [the fraudulent scheme] will make his evidence be viewed with a cautionary approach by the court,” she said. “If a state calls him as a witness, he will be put through rigorous cross-examination by the other accused. The court will have to decide on the reliability of his evidence, especially given the fact that he might have an inclination to make anybody guilty for benefit of the plea agreement,” she said. Whether the deal Idac initiated in March will succeed in ensuring accountability for allegations that have attracted national attention to the state of the country’s police force will depend on whether Matlala’s testimony stands the legal test during criminal prosecutions. The state is also responsible for ensuring Matlala’s safety as a witness. Matlala, who also faces charges in the attempted murder of taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni, was whisked away to Ebhongweni maximum prison in KwaZulu-Natal in December with the state citing safety concerns. Bezuidenhout said it will be challenging for the state to ensure Matlala’s safety while in prison, as his identity is known publicly.While Matlala has entered into the plea agreement, Bezuidenhout said the court could decide not to make the agreement a court order, scuppering his chance of entering into a formal agreement in deliberating a sentence with the state. “The court has a choice to agree with the plea agreement or not. If the court agrees to the sentence, then the matter will be finalised as it is on the plea agreement. “You can only use the section 105A agreement once. If the court does not agree and the parties decide to withdraw from the agreement, they cannot take it to another court and initiate a formal plea agreement again,” she said. The prescribed sentence for fraud under criminal law for a first offender is 15 years’ imprisonment. Bezuidenhout said the court could only deviate from the sentence under compelling and substantial circumstances. “In terms of the Criminal Law Amendment Act there is a prescribed sentence that the court must impose. There must be substantial and compelling circumstances why the court can deviate from the prescribed sentence. “In other words, the court cannot for flimsy reasons or the normal mitigating factors deviate from a sentence. The court must be satisfied that there are compelling and substantial circumstances to deviate.” Prof Dumisani Mabunda, lecturer at Unisa, said much of the focus on Matlala’s evidence will be on how many officers he will implicate in the saga. “Now [that] he is a state witness, he is going to implicate a lot of other co-accused who unfortunately involve high-ranking officers that are currently under suspension,” Mabunda said. He said Idac is under much pressure to prosecute the tender case, having had little success with state capture cases.“I think this institution is still battling to find [its] feet…. If you look at what transpired last week, when they wanted to flex their muscles by arresting high-ranking officers [such as Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo] and some interventions prevented them from doing that,” he said. Mabunda said depending on the evidence Matlala provides, the case could affect the public clashes between the SAPS and Idac. He described the Matlala case as huge for Idac. “It may sound like it is a big win for them because it involves a lot of money. It may be one of the cases that they will brag about going forward.”
