Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson has terminated Vusimuzi ‘Cat” Matlala’s Medicare 24 lease in Pretoria West after an investigation found procurement irregularities. The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure,Dean Macphersonhas terminated a lease agreement between his department andMedicare 24 Tshwane Districtfor a hospital facility in Pretoria West . This come after an internal investigation found that the lease could not lawfully be implemented.
The lease was terminated with immediate effect on Friday morning, following allegations raised in a Parliamentary Ad hoc Committee and an investigation by a South African media company. The reports alleged that Medicare 24 Tshwane District, reportedly owned byVusimuzi “Cat” Matlalaand where he was previously listed as a director, bypassed standard procurement processes to secure the lease. Matlala, who has previously secured high-value government contracts, has recently been at the centre of allegations relating to fraud, corruption, and violent crime.
His company, Medicare 24 Tshwane District, previously held a R360 million contract to provide health services to South African Police Service employees, which was later cancelled by National Police CommissionerFannie Masemola. Macpherson said he instructed theDepartment of Public Works & Infrastructureto conduct an internal investigation after becoming aware of the allegations. The investigation found that the lease agreement, entered into in December 2023, could not come into operation because the hospital facility had not been declared surplus to the requirements of theSouth African Police Service(SAPS).
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In terms of the Government Immovable Asset Management Act, 2007, SAPS remains the designated user of the facility. Departmental records further indicate that SAPS continues to require the hospital for service-delivery purposes. The formal declaration of a property as surplus is a necessary legal requirement before any lease agreement can take effect.
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