‘Cat’ Matlala’s lawyer grills cop over ‘unlawful’ searches

Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala’slawyer has argued that police had no evidence linking his co-accused Musa Kekana to the murder of engineering consultant Armand Swart and that officers failed to follow basic legal procedures during his arrest. Advocate Annelene van der Heever cited incomplete SAPS documentation and alleged failures to comply with crime scene management regulations. She argued in the high court in Johannesburg that police had no reasonable suspicion to search Kekana’s vehicle, submitting that the searches were “unlawful and illegal”.

Kekana, Matlala, his wife Tsakane Matlala, Tiego Floyd Mabusela, and his daughterNthabiseng Nzama, face 25 charges including money laundering, conspiracy to commit murder and the attempted murders of actress Tebogo Thobejane and minibus taxi boss Joe Sibanyoni. Kekana’s April 2024 arrest that is linked to the murder of Swart is now the subject of atrial-within-a-trialto determine whether firearms recovered during that operation may be admitted as evidence in the main trial. Allegations are that those firearms were later linked to the attempted murders of Thobejane and Sibanyoni.

On thewitness standwas SAPS tactical response team captain Phimi Sekgobela, who led the operation that resulted in Kekana’s arrest. Van der Heever took Sekgobela through the SAPS national instructions governing crime scene management, establishing that he was the officer in charge until the crime scene commander arrived. She then referred him to provisions requiring suspects to be removed from a crime scene and taken to the nearest police station without delay.

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“It states that the first responder must arrange for the suspect to be removed from the crime scene as soon as possible if an arrest has been made. Did you do that?” she asked. Van der Heever referred the court to the SAPS warning statements and the cell register, which reflected that Kekana had beenarrested and bookedfor possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition rather than murder.

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