‘Silent partner’: Riaan Venter, the other figure in the Matlala-dodgy police contract mix

Last year, crime kingpin accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala testified before a parliamentary committee and denied the suggestion that businessmen Mike van Wyk and Riaan Venter used him as a front.

Since then several details, particularly about Van Wyk, have emerged.

Last month, a News24 report included a video showing Van Wyk seated alongside Julius Mkhwanazi, the now-suspended deputy Ekurhuleni Metro Police chief who has also been implicated in the broader Matlala scandal.

Daily Maverick recently reported on Van Wyk claiming that, following a previous threat from a figure in the mining industry, private security figure Mark Lifman had stepped in to assist.

Lifman, widely suspected of being at the top of Cape Town’s organised crime hierarchy, was murdered in November 2024.

FOR CONTEXT

‘Mark Lifman protected me from mining threat’ — Matlala’s business partner Mike van Wyk

March 30, 2026

But while Van Wyk has a presence in the media, Venter has kept a lower profile.

This is what we know:

His full name is Jan Adriaan Venter, and he is involved in various ventures, from farming to debt collection.

He is also a director of Medicare 24 Holdings, which Van Wyk founded.

It is their connection to the company that has seen their names surface in a lucrative, dubiously awarded South African Police Service (SAPS) tender to Matlala’s company, Medicare 24 Tshwane District, two years ago.

The tender was budgeted at R360-million, but the State alleges that due to collusion with police officers, Matlala’s company was awarded the contract for R228-million.

Venter and Van Wyk are not facing criminal charges in this controversy, but official references to their names in the saga suggest they may be helping the State build its case.

On Wednesday, 8 April 2026, Venter declined to comment to Daily Maverick.

Array of business

Venter is not based in Gauteng, where the Matlala matters are centred, and his business ventures involve the farming and construction sectors.

Among the other notable titles Venter holds is that of non-executive director at a debt collections company.

This company is linked to another business, also involved in debt collection, and counts Capitec Bank as a client. (These two companies have a director in common. It is not Venter.)

Daily Maverick managed to contact Venter through the company offering its services to Capitec, which may simply mean he is well known at that company.

Capitec said on Wednesday that it was not aware of any direct or indirect working relationship connecting the bank to Venter.

Meanwhile, the Matlala saga continues to pull people into South Africa’s unprecedented law enforcement implosion.

Case against Cat and the cops

Last month, 12 senior police officers, along with Matlala and another of his business associates, James Murray, were arrested in connection with the Medicare 24 Tshwane District contract.

National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola has also been summoned to appear in court over this.

He is expected in the dock on 21 April.

Venter and Van Wyk, meanwhile, have been referred to in the case against the 12 police officers, Matlala and Murray.

The charge sheet against that group (which may, like in other matters, change as the case progresses) names the pair.

Van Wyk founded Medicare 24 Holdings, and as of about a week ago, he said that while he no longer owned it, he remained its chief executive officer.

It is understood that Venter was a small shareholder and became a director of the company in 2023 as an administrative manoeuvre to ensure its smooth functioning following someone’s departure.

While Medicare 24 Holdings seems to have created a business relationship with Matlala, it is separate from his Medicare 24 Tshwane District company, which has been accused of landing the controversial police tender.

The initial charge sheet against the 12 arrested police officers alleged that in 2024, due diligence was conducted on Medicare 24 Tshwane District as part of the tender process, but this actually happened at the premises of Medicare 24 Holdings in Boksburg.

It also separately alleged that Venter and Van Wyk, along with some of the accused in the case, may have misrepresented certain issues, thereby “unlawfully, falsely and with the intent to defraud and to the prejudice or potential prejudice of the SAPS”.

‘Sounds like fronting’

Matlala, aside from being an accused in the police tender matter, faces other criminal charges. He has also been accused of being part of a drug cartel that has allegedly infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, policing, and private security.

Matlala previously referred to Venter and Van Wyk when talking about his business dealings.

In November last year, Matlala testified before Parliament’s ad hoc committee, one of two hearings investigating the drug cartel infiltration allegations.

He said he was introduced to Van Wyk, who he described as the chief executive of Medicare 24 Holdings, around 2016.

Matlala had explained to Van Wyk that he was involved in private security and supplying medical equipment to hospitals.

“[Van Wyk] told me, ‘Listen, we want to send proposals to manage clinics which are in the townships. But since you are black […] maybe you can have much more advantage than us,’” Matlala testified.

This was how he got into business involving Van Wyk and Venter.

It resulted in the creation of Medicare 24 Tshwane District in around 2018 – Matlala’s company now at the centre of the police tender court case.

While Matlala was testifying before Parliament’s ad hoc committee last year, evidence leader Norman Arendse put it to him that it seemed as if Van Wyk and Venter had wanted him “to front” for them.

Matlala denied this. He is expected back in court in Pretoria on 20 April 2026 in connection with the police tender case.

Masemola is expected in the dock the next day, and the 12 senior police officers, who are out on bail, are set to return to court in May. DM