Illustrative image: (From left) Suspended General Shadrack Sibiya. (Photo: Frennie Shivambu / Gallo Images) | Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala. (Photo: Frennie Shivambu / Gallo Images) | Major-General Richard Shibiri. (Photo: Frennie Shivambu / Gallo Images) | KZN Hawks boss Major-General Lesetja Senona. (Photo: Frennie Shivambu / Gallo Images)
On Friday, 5 June, the South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed the suspension of nine police officers who served on the bid evaluation committee responsible for awarding organised crime suspect Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s Medicare24 a R360-million contract.
National SAPS spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said: “The affected members have been placed on suspension pending the finalisation of disciplinary and related investigations. The SAPS remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency and ethical conduct in all its operations.
“As the matter is subject to ongoing processes, the SAPS will not comment further at this stage.”
The Madlanga Commission is hearing evidence into alleged criminality, political interference and corruption within law enforcement agencies, following explosive claims by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who claimed that top officials had conspired to obstruct investigations into criminal syndicates.
The arrests, suspensions and disciplinary action that have followed suggest authorities are beginning to act on allegations of corruption and collusion within the SAPS.
More than a dozen police officers face criminal charges in relation to the Medicare24 contract.
Major General dismissed
Earlier on Friday, SAPS confirmed the dismissal of Major-General Richard Shibiri, the head of the SAPS organised crime unit, following the conclusion of internal disciplinary proceedings, making him the most senior officer yet to be removed amid the fallout from evidence heard before the Madanga Commission.
Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Mathe said the disciplinary proceedings were conducted in accordance with SAPS prescripts and the principles of procedural fairness.
“Major-General Shibiri was found guilty of misconduct relating to conduct that brought the organisation into disrepute, including associating himself with a known criminal,” she said.
While Mathe did not name the individual concerned, testimony before the Madlanga Commission repeatedly focused on Shibiri’s relationship with Matlala.
/file/attachments/orphans/ED_599604_484644.jpg "Major-General Richard Shibiri testifies at Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on March 11, 2026. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu)")
Evidence heard by the commission painted a troubling picture of alleged ties between senior law enforcement officials and figures accused of operating within lucrative criminal networks.
Shibiri was among five law enforcement officials singled out by President Cyril Ramaphosa following his consideration of the commission’s first interim report. The commission recommended immediate criminal investigations, urgent prosecutorial decisions and intervention in the employment status of implicated officials, underscoring the seriousness of the allegations aired during months of testimony.
Before Shibiri was suspended in February 2025, he oversaw transnational, narcotics, anti-gang, extortion, economic infrastructure and illegal mining investigations. He, like so many other top cops, now faces damning allegations of succumbing to the same organised crime syndicates he says have infiltrated the police.
The action against Shibiri forms part of a broader effort by the SAPS to root out officials allegedly linked to the so-called Big Five cartel.
The factors that sealed Shibiri’s fate
At the heart of Shibiri’s downfall was a body of damning evidence presented before the Madlanga Commission, where witnesses detailed his alleged links to organised crime figures and raised serious questions about his conduct and associations.
The bubble burst on 4 March, when Shibiri appeared before the commission to answer allegations that he accepted an R80,000 “gift” from controversial businessman and organised crime accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, and that he meddled in a murder investigation.
Admitting to receiving R80,000 from Matlala, Shibiri claimed the money was a loan that was repaid. That loan stems from 14 September 2024, when Shibiri attended an engagement party for the son of now-suspended deputy national commissioner, Shadrack Sibiya, at Sibiya’s Centurion residence. Matlala and other top policemen were also present at the party.
Central to the commission’s scrutiny was why Shibiri, one of SAPS’ most senior organised crime investigators, sought financial assistance from Matlala. The timing of the loan raised further questions, coming shortly after Matlala’s company, Medicare24, secured the lucrative R360-million SAPS health services contract in June 2024.
/file/attachments/2992/ED_608782_836849.jpg "Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala appeared at Pretoria Magistrate's Court on 13 May, 2026 in Pretoria. The suspects face charges of corruption, fraud, and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act in relation to the irregular awarding of a R360-million police tender to Medicare24, a company owned by Vusimuzi Cat Matlala. (Photo by Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu)")
Matlala, who faces attempted murder charges, is a central figure in the Madlanga Commission investigation into alleged political interference and corruption within the criminal justice system, owing to his reported links to senior police officials, including sidelined police minister Senzo Mchunu.
The allegations against Shibiri extended beyond his relationship with Matlala. The commission heard that Shibiri allegedly tried to tempt investigators with three envelopes containing bribes to influence the investigations into the murder of engineer Armand Swart, who was killed in Vereeniging on 17 April 2024, allegedly over a Transnet contract.
Shibiri emphatically denied the allegations.
More damning against Shibiri was the evidence by Lieutenant-Colonel Nkoana Sebola of the Hawks, who told the commission he received a strange call from Shibiri, allegedly suggesting that suspects linked to the seizure of more than 700kg of cocaine worth R300-million in Aeroton in July 2021 must be set free.
Hawks officers under scrutiny over alleged collusion
Meanwhile, suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona, who has been implicated in allegations relating to the disappearance of 541kg of cocaine valued at about R200-million from a Hawks facility in Port Shepstone, was scheduled to appear before the commission on Friday.
Senona did not testify as scheduled after the commission was informed that his attorney was unavailable owing to illness.
Three top KwaZulu-Natal Hawks officers were suspended this week, although their names weren’t released.
Responding to Daily Maverick’s enquiry about their suspension, Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the matter related to an employer-employee relationship and was being managed in accordance with applicable labour laws, policies and internal processes.
“As this is an internal human resources matter, we request that the organisation be afforded the opportunity to deal with it through the prescribed channels. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this stage,” she said. DM