Top cop Hilda Senthumule talks BBLs, regrets not knowing ‘Cat’ Matlala’s history

Acting deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Hilda Senthumule said that asking criminally accused Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala for sponsorship for a police award was “regrettable” after she failed to investigate who he was.

Senthumule testified on Tuesday, 10 March before the parliamentary ad hoc committee, where she faced several tough questions about why she had not looked into Matlala’s background before his company sponsored 12 bar fridges. She also responded to allegations that she was in a relationship with Matlala.

The committee is investigating allegations that law enforcement has been captured by organised crime groups, including the “Big Five” cartel. Crime Intelligence boss Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo testified at the parallel Madlanga Commission that Matlala was part of the Big Five drug trafficking cartel.

Senthumule, the SAPS divisional commissioner for detective and forensic services, testified that she first heard of Matlala at an engagement party held in honour of deputy police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya’s son. This was held at the Sibiya home in September 2024.

A friend of hers, Major General Sandra Malebe-Thema, pointed out Matlala at the party. Malebe-Thema also introduced Senthumule to Matlala’s wife, Tsakane, who was also at the event.

As Daily Maverick reported at the Madlanga Commission, Sibiya had messaged Matlala that night to collect Tsakane, whom he said was drunk, which evidence leaders said appeared to be an excuse to meet the organised crime accused. Senthumule told MPs that Tsakane did not appear to be drunk.

Senthumule interacted with Matlala later that year after Malebe-Thema shared his details for a possible sponsorship for their Divisional Excellence Awards, to be held on 29 November 2024.

At this point, Matlala had a contract (now cancelled because it was irregularly awarded) with the police. He also had a long history of criminal charges, most of which had been dropped.

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Matlala’s company, MediCare24, sponsored 12 bar fridges for the awards, specifically for the Deputy National Commissioner’s and Divisional Commissioner’s Awards recipients.

General Malebe-Thema gave her Matlala’s number, Senthumule testified.

She told MPs that she called Matlala and explained the proposal for the sponsorship. After this call, she was put in contact with an associate of Matlala, who handled the sponsorship.

That was the extent of her interactions with Matlala, until she had seen his name mentioned in newspapers.

‘Google is your friend’

Several MPs pointed out that Senthumule should have known better than to interact with Matlala, and she eventually conceded that, in fact, she should have known better.

“It actually is regrettable, and much as I can say it was innocent, you know, I think from the look of things it doesn’t sound right, it doesn’t sound correct, and it’s something that will follow me,” Senthumule told MPs.

DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said, “Just to point out, Google is your friend.”

EFF MP Julius Malema said Senthumule, a former top Crime Intelligence official, should have known the company she kept, especially as she had a role as public as hers was. At one point, he questioned that when Senthumule had seen him for the first time, how her curiosity was not piqued.

ActionSA’s Dereleen James questioned her further: “Here you are telling us, as the former head of Counter Intelligence, you approach a service provider, which number one is improper and makes this questionable, and you approach someone who has 17 charges.”

Matlala, of course, was charged in 2025 with the attempted murder of an ex-girlfriend, as well as conspiracy to commit murder, fraud and defeating the ends of justice.

Of BBLs and Matlala connections

Senthumule was called to the committee to testify about her knowledge of the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team, which is at the centre of claims made by KwaZulu-Natal police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi of the alleged capture of the SAPS by criminal cartels.

But her appearance had been overshadowed by an unproven allegation by Sibiya that her Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) procedure had been paid for by none other than Matala.

On Tuesday, Senthulume again denied that she was in a relationship with Matlala, similar to her denial before the Madlanga Commission.

About this, she said it was “an allegation that he threw from nowhere”.

When asked about her procedure, she stood up and showed MPs the results of the surgery, saying people expected it to be bigger, like celebrities who’d previously had this procedure.

Sitting down, she said her procedure had become like a “national asset’ and, “I’ve actually had more guys approaching me now over the phone to say, can we go out?”

But she said Sibiya’s comment “was for me a sore point in my career that I could just be taken so low after working so hard to be where I am with my integrity intact up until that moment when somebody thought under oath he could just get away with it.

“I wish to submit to this committee that it is rather very unfortunate that I have to respond to this,” she said.

She continued: “You can trace the money that I paid for my procedures. And I’ve given all of those statements as evidence to the evidence leaders. It’s available for the public. From my credit card to my cheque card to Dr Pert, who actually did my procedures.”

(Yes, her doctor is called Dr Pert.)

“I’m not shy, honourable members,” she told MPs, “to say I take care of myself. Being a police officer doesn’t mean that you can just give up, and people see us. We’ve got young women who must look at us as leaders, who actually can do the job. We model the badge.

“There are times when I wear that uniform, and I carry that firearm, and I’m like, no damn, I look good.”

“There are times where I also, like you, I don’t see it, you know, but it’s all about my body, my decisions, and what I deem fit as a woman at my level with the money that I worked hard for… not seeing my kids.

“I’m not going to apologise to anybody. Yes, it can be a laughing stock for a moment. My biggest problem is that it was said under oath by a senior official of the South African Police Service,” she said about Sibiya’s comments.

The procedure, she said, was performed on 16 October 2023. This, according to her (and bank statements provided in her witness statement), was paid using her credit card and a police bonus she received.

After this, she went to work.

“General Sibiya is correct because my back had pains. I couldn’t sit properly, but I don’t think it’s something that for me he should have [ridden] on as a man with a badge… And an allegation that he [made] just from nowhere to say that Mr Matlala paid for it.”

She continued that she did not “even know” what Ozempic looked like.

“And it is paraded on the global platform to say this general who represents this flag that I wear every day. I wear this every day because I represent my people. When I go to Abu Dhabi, and I sit, I represent South Africa in terms of diplomacy. I’m not going to be sorry for what I do to look good.”

Senthumule said she was given the number for Dr Pert from Major General Malebe-Thema.

While Senthumule denied she had a romantic relationship with Matlala, one police official has admitted to having a relationship with him. Testifying before the Madlanga Commission, Brigadier Rachel Matjeng, the SAPS Section Head for Quality Management, confirmed she had been in a relationship with Matlala in 2017, according to eNCA.

On Wednesday, Lieutenant General Francina Vuma is expected to testify about the R45-million grabber, allegedly used at the ANC’s elective conference in 2017. DM