Shibiri’s dodgy R70K Matlala loan

TheMadlanga Commissionpeeled yet another layer of the level of police complicity with organised crime this week as suspended head of organised crime Richard Shibiri conceded to a R70000 loan he took from businessperson and alleged leader of the Big Five cartel, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. “I had planned to build a wall back home and also at my house. We were also renovating my dad’s tombstone in March – that was in my plan – hence I needed extra money to deal with that, knowing that in December I’d be having in excess of R150 000, [from] which I could easily pay back the money,” he said of the 2024 transaction.

His thinking at the time was that he needed to fix his son’s car and rebuild his family property. He said Matlala’s offer came at an opportune moment and it was a loan rather than a request for a favour, a gift. In recent months, the commission has unveiledMatlala’s links to senior police officialsthrough financial transactions and even romantic relationships.

Head of crime intelligence Dumisani Khumalo previously told the commission thatalmost 80% of Gaunteng police officershave been captured by crime syndicates. The Madlanga Commission was established to investigate allegations of corruption, criminal infiltration and political interference within the criminal justice system, set up after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s explosive 6 July media briefing. During his testimony this week, Shibiri conceded to borrowing R70000 from Matlala in September 2024, saying the money was needed to repair his son’s damaged car, among other things.

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The money was deposited into his son’s account, while Shibiri himself had more than R50 000 in his own account. Recently, suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya responded to accusations by Witnesses F, who claimed he received a gift of 20 impalas delivered to his farm. Sibiya testified he rejected the offer and the impalas were never delivered.

Shibiri further denied the accusation by anonymous police officers, Witness A and B, who claimed he covered up a police investigation where Matlala was a person of interest as a favour to Sibiya. At the ad hoc committee probing similar claims of police collusion with organised crime, the acting police commissioner for detectives and forensic services, Hilda Khosi Senthumule, denied accepting money from Matlala to fund a body enhancement procedure, BBL.

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