Bheki Cele Admits Staying At Alleged Cartel Boss’s Penthouse: “It Was A Freebie”

Former Police Minister Bheki Cele has admitted to spending nights at the Pretoria penthouse of alleged “Big Five” cartel member and businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, while testifying before Parliament’s ad hoc committee in Cape Town on Thursday.

Cele told the committee that he first met Matlala in December 2024 at Durban’s Beverly Hills Hotel, shortly after a police raid on Matlala’s home. According to Cele, Matlala had claimed he was being targeted for “political reasons” following the awarding of a R360 million SAPS tender.

Bheki Cele defends stay as harmless hospitality

While acknowledging that he stayed twice at Matlala’s luxury penthouse, Cele denied any personal or business relationship with the businessman. He described the accommodation as a “freebie”, emphasising that he was no longer a government official at the time.

“It was a freebie… and I am not working. I am a pensioner,” Cele said, adding that he would have declared the stay had he still been in office.

Committee members, however, questioned the ethics and optics of accepting hospitality from an individual under criminal scrutiny.

Money allegation retracted

Cele also addressed claims that he received money from Matlala, dismissing them after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi retracted the allegation. Mkhwanazi reportedly admitted that the wrong bank account number had been used in his initial report.

Despite the retraction, the committee insisted that Mkhwanazi must formally amend his statement and indicated that he may be recalled to testify.

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