Defence attorney in Matlala case cautioned over behaviour in witness cross-examination

Vusumuzi “Cat’ Matlala, his wife Tsakani Matlala, Musa Kekana, Tiego Floyd Mabusela and Nthabiseng Zandile Nzama appear before the Gauteng South High Court in Johannesburg, 3 August 2026. Picture: Nigel Sibanda / The Citizen Captain Pimi Sekgobela has been forced to concede to several instances where he may not have been in full control of the arrests of Musa Kekana and Michael Pule Tau. The pair are two of Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala’s co-accused in the murder of Armand Swart, with Kekana seeking to have evidence against him declared inadmissible via the current trial within a trial.

Kekana and Tau were arrested in the Johannesburg suburb of Kew on 17 April 2024, several hours after Swart’s murder in Vereeniging. Defence advocate Annelene van den Heever gave a rigorous cross-examination of the witness, at one stage needing to be reminded by Judge Cassim Moosa not to create a hostile environment in the courtroom. Court was postponed on Friday so that Van den Heever could use South African Police Service (Saps) national protocol instructions to argue where Sekgobela had possibly infringed.

Sekgobela was the Tactical Response Team Commander who oversaw the arrests and has been answering questions about his handling of the scene. The advocate laid out the Saps protocol for handling arrested suspects, documenting incidents, and treating scenes with care. Sekgobela stated all measures were taken to secure the crime scene – where the accused were found with an unlicensed firearm – but noted he did not remove the suspect from the scene immediately as per protocol.

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Kekana had earlier claimed he was beaten by the arresting officers, with Sekgobela stating Kekana’s condition was documented when the suspect began coughing up blood. Van den Heever disputed this as there was no record of such, with the commander clarifying that he delegated the calling of an ambulance to another officer using his state phone. “I am only realising now that I made a mistake, that it is not written in my diary but it is contained in my statement,” Sekgobela’s translator relayed.

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