Matlala’s ‘Ozempic girlfriend’ and ‘job terminator’ among 12 cops arrested in R360m tender scandal

When Brigadier Rachel Matjeng testified before one of the committees investigating South Africa’s seismic law enforcement scandal, she came across as rather smug as she explained a weight loss plan.

It involved getting the drug Ozempic from the man she claimed was her boyfriend – Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.

Fast-forward, and Matjeng is now among a group of 12 senior police officers, one of whom has since retired, arrested a couple of days ago in connection with a dodgy R360-million tender awarded to Matlala’s company, Medicare 24 Tshwane District (Pty) Ltd, back in 2024.

The arrests relate to services dealing with retirement due to ill health, wellness screenings and medical assessments before employment.

The dozen in the dock

The tender was subsequently cancelled because of irregularities, including alleged fraud, resulting in the 12 police arrests on Tuesday, 24 March 2026.

Also charged in this case are Matlala and a business associate of his, James Murray.

The group made their first court appearance in Pretoria on Wednesday and face corruption and fraud charges, as well as accusations that they contravened the Public Finance Management Act.

All, barring Matlala, were granted bail.

On Wednesday, while those officers were making their first court appearance, it emerged that National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola may also face criminal charges in this saga.

The arrests are a major offshoot in South Africa’s amplifying law enforcement scandal, hinged on accusations that a drug trafficking cartel known as the Big Five has infiltrated the country’s criminal justice system, politics and private security.

Two hearings – the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and Parliament’s ad hoc committee – have been investigating those accusations.

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Matlala has been accused of being a Big Five cartel member, while facing criminal charges that include attempted murder.

The court case stemming from Tuesday’s arrests now adds to the many scandals that have emerged from the cartel infiltration allegations.

A look at the police officers listed on the charge sheet and the accusations they face, paired with their job titles, reveals several juxtapositions and anomalies.

The 12 arrested police officers are:

• • Captain Brian Cartwright;
  • Brigadier Rachel Matjeng;
  • Brigadier Alpheus Ngema;
  • Brigadier Patrick Nthengwe;
  • Colonel Tumisho Maleka;
  • Major General Busisiwe Temba;
  • Brigadier Kirsty Jonker;
  • Brigadier Onicca Ofentse Tlhoaele;
  • Colonel Anton Paulsen;
  • Colonel Natsengae Monyai;
  • Colonel Nonjobulo Mngadi; and
  • retired Brigadier Petunia Lenono.

A focus on some of these officers:

‘The facilitator’

Captain Brian Cartwright was the sub-section commander of tactical equipment for the supply chain management division.

He was directly involved in the awarding of the Medicare 24 tender.

A tender-awarding process involved a bid evaluation committee meant to ensure that suppliers met certain criteria, including tax compliance, and that relevant documents were properly completed.

The bid evaluation committee provided a recommendation that went to a bid adjudication committee.

Parliament’s ad hoc committee previously heard that Cartwright was the facilitator in this Medicare 24 tender process.

Audit findings related to the tender and broader issues later found that “the role of the facilitator […] exposed and is continuously exposing SAPS bidding process into corruption risks”.

News24, meanwhile, earlier reported that Matlala channelled money “through third-party proxy companies”, seemingly to Cartwright, as well as another police officer now charged in the Medicare 24 scandal, Brigadier Rachel Matjeng.

The claimed girlfriend and the Ozempic

Matjeng heads the police’s quality management arena, including criminal record and crime scene management.

She testified before the Madlanga Commission in February, and some of her assertions were of a more personal nature – she claimed to be Matlala’s girlfriend.

Matjeng spoke openly about requesting him to help her get a weight loss drug.

Referring to messages between herself and Matlala, Matjeng told the Madlanga Commission: “I then requested him, as a boyfriend, to say: ‘Can I have my Ozempic?’ ”

The Ozempic cost R4,500, and Matjeng had hoped Matlala would be able to access it through Medicare 24 – the company that was awarded the dodgy tender for which she now faces criminal charges.

While testifying before the Madlanga Commission, she insinuated that she had chosen a wiser route in her weight-loss journey.

“At least I was doing it the normal way. I did not go for BBL … like … like others did BBLs,” Matjeng had said. (BBL refers to a Brazilian butt lift – a procedure to contour the buttocks.)

“I’m just explaining because I was told that Ozempic will go hand-in-hand with BBL. And those that I’m seeing at work who did the BBL, they also used Ozempic.

“For me, from my boyfriend, I only ask for Ozempic, unlike those that ask for BBL.”

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Matjeng coyly said she knew who in the SAPS got a BBL.

(It appeared that she was referring to acting deputy national commissioner of crime detection Hilda Senthumule, who recently showed off her BBL before Parliament’s ad hoc committee.)

The ‘mental wellbeing’ head

Among those sharing the dock with Matjeng on Wednesday was Petunia Lenono, a former SAPS brigadier.

News24’s Jeff Wicks reported that Lenono left the police service shortly before the tender was awarded to Medicare 24 two years ago – and subsequently took up a job at Matlala’s company.

Last year, Lenono spoke to Newzroom Afrika about the accusations she faced, insisting that she had not done any work for Medicare 24; this had merely been a plan.

She explained that while still in the police service, “I was the section head for psychological services, which meant that I was responsible for the mental wellbeing of all police officers.”

Asked why she had resigned from the police service, Lenono said she had “needed to expand” and “explore further my purpose because we are only here for a limited time”.

She said she had also wanted to give others the chance to become section heads in the police service.

Lenono added that the Medicare 24 tender award process was the first of its kind she had been involved in.

Her task, she said, had not been to appoint any company, but to do screening ahead of that.

The ‘workplace where we serve with pride’

Another officer now facing charges in the Medicare 24 tender scandal is Major General Busisiwe Temba.

She is the SAPS employee health and wellness head.

The SAPS magazine’s October 2025 edition quoted her delivering an inspirational speech at an event.

Temba was reported as saying, “Let us move forward together. Let us be inclusive in our work and truly uphold our human rights framework, not just in policy, but in practice.

“[…] SAPS management chooses to serve everyone, to confront stigma and discrimination, and to create a workplace where every member, without exception, can work with safety, dignity and the knowledge that they belong.

“A workplace where we serve with pride.”

The top-notch terminations

Brigadier Kirsty Jonker was also among the 12 police officers in the dock on Wednesday.

She has previously excelled in her work, which appeared to be in the arena of ending employment.

A 2017 SAPS magazine mentions this, and an award Jonker received at the time.

It said: “Before handing a trophy and certificate to Brigadier Kirsty Jonker, responsible for Service Terminations, the Divisional Commissioner for Personnel Management, Lieutenant General Lineo Ntshiea, pointed out that the reason the section was nominated, was that they have improved service delivery in terms of service terminations – despite negative commentary.”

The arrests of 12 police officers as part of democratic South Africa's biggest law enforcement scandal, and critical issues surrounding this, are now too generating negative commentary. DM