Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala. Picture: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu A Hawks officer has made a dramatic disclosure at the Madlanga commission, admitting he secretly lived at the home of alleged underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala – despite previously denying any link to him. The officer, known only as Witness I, has been testifying about the controversial July 2021 Aeroton drug bust, where 715.86 kilograms of cocaine were seized.
The inquiry is also investigating how 136.46 kilograms of the drugs later vanished from the forensic laboratory of the South African Police Service (Saps), in what is believed to be an inside job. The revelation about Witness I’s stay at Matlala’s family home in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria, emerged only after he submitted a supplementary statement on Wednesday, 10 June 2026. He told the commission he had initially withheld the information because he did not view it as “significant”.
However, he changed course after receiving what he described as threats following his testimony on Tuesday, 9 June. “Yesterday, after my testimony, I received a number of calls warning me that the seniors are not happy with my testimony. “One of my members informed me that there is a plan to disclose my stay at Mr Matlala’s house as a way of discrediting me.
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“I considered the warning important and deemed it a threat to shut me up or to discredit me. “I, therefore, thought it important to bring this issue to the commission’s attention and to disclose fully what happened during the time I resided at Mr Matlala’s house,” he said on Wednesday. Now attached to the Hawks’ Tactical Operations Management Section (TOMS), Witness I said he stayed at the Mamelodi property without initially knowing it belonged to Matlala.
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