Ekurhuleni In Hot Water Over Paying R3.4m To Cat Matlala’s Wife’s Company

The R3.4 million tender awarded by the City of Ekurhuleni to a company linked to the wife of controversial businessman Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala has come under intense scrutiny at the Madlanga commission.

Evidence presented before the commission detailed a series of irregularities surrounding the appointment of Buena Vista Learning Academy — a company controlled by Tsakane Baloyi, Matlala’s wife — despite what were described as glaring “red flags”.

Ekurhuleni HR Tender: Timeline Raises Alarm Bells

In June 2023, the municipality’s Human Resources Department: Strategic HR and Talent Management invited accredited skills development providers to bid for training services. The contract would run on an as-and-when-required basis until 30 June 2026.

The tender was advertised on 15 June 2023, with a closing date of 24 July 2023.

Although the advert was issued under the name of former city manager Imogen Mashazi, suspended head of HR Linda Gxasheka told the commission that Mashazi was not involved in the tender processes beyond appointing the bid committees.

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Gxasheka also distanced herself from the evaluation and adjudication process.

Buena Vista Learning Academy emerged as one of the successful bidders in November 2023.

Company Name Change, Late Registration and ‘Red Flags’

The commission examined what it described as warning signs that could have disqualified the company.

Baloyi became a director of the business on 26 June 2023 — just over a week after the tender was advertised and less than a month before submissions closed.

At the time of her appointment, the company was trading as Mokoko Grill, a shisanyama business. On 11 July 2023 — after the bid invitation had already been issued and less than two weeks before the deadline — the company changed its name to Buena Vista Learning Academy.

Further concerns were raised about the company’s compliance profile:

• It registered on the Central Supplier Database (CSD) on 20 July 2023, four days before submitting its bid.
• It obtained its BEE certificate four days before filing its first BEE submission.
• Its bank account was opened on 17 July 2023.
• It was not VAT registered, despite declaring a turnover of R35 million in the previous financial year.

However, CSD records indicated the company’s annual turnover was R10 million or less.

Evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson told the commission: “So, there seems to be a fraud of some sort taking place here. Either it’s a VAT fraud, or this turnover figure is a fictitious figure. Either way, there is a fraud, either on the city or on the receiver.

There definitely seems to be fraud against the city or the department of finance, because although the bid says we saw an annual turnover of R35 million, the CSD registration says the total annual turnover is R10 million or less. So one of those two figures must be lying, possibly both.”

Gxasheka responded: “Without having technical knowledge, I fully agree. As I say, finance, they can answer better on this, but us, seeing here, I fully agree with you.”

She added: “From my level, it looks like there are some discrepancies. Unless they say they are training in the construction of buildings, I don’t know. But from what we see, I see those irregularities.”

R66,500 Bid Turns Into R3.4 Million Payout

Although the total bid price was listed as R66,500, records showed that between 23 July 2024 and 5 September 2025, the company received payments amounting to R3,484,987.

When asked to explain the substantial increase, Gxasheka said: “I won’t have clarity on that; I’m not an expert on that. But on the spreadsheet, it will show the training allocation as required by departments, where she will then go to train. So these are payments that are made.”

The municipality did not allocate its own budget for the training. Instead, payments were drawn from Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) grants accessible to the city.

Gxasheka explained: “The departments will ask for a particular training, and then we’ll allocate that training for that department, and once they are done with the training, it will be paid from the Seta’s grants.”

No Training Accreditation and Questionable Partnerships

The commission also examined the company’s industry classification, which listed construction — not training — as its core business.

Chaskalson told the hearing that Buena Vista had no training accreditations of its own and relied on partnership agreements to qualify.

One subcontracting agreement named CTC College (Pty) Ltd as the principal, with Buena Vista as the second partner. Another memorandum of understanding involved Leda Cleaning and Security.

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The CSD report reflected that the legal entity was a company, not a joint venture.

Chaskalson asked whether a company without its own training accreditations could qualify for the bid.

Gxasheka replied: “I’m going to repeat that I’m agreeing with you from the layman’s point of view. I don’t want to say I’m talking here on behalf of the finance department.”

She concluded: “From the layman’s point of view, I’m sure finance will have reasons and understanding of how subcontracting works. So I don’t want me conceding to be a position of the finance department. I’m just saying, from the layman’s point of view, all this looks very strange.”