Senzo Mchunu: Brown Mogotsi is 'just a comrade' and I never met Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala
Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu has denied links to alleged underworld criminal kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Image: Henk Kruger/Independent Newspapers
Embattled Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu has denied links to alleged underworld criminal kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala following the explosive allegations made on Sunday by KwaZulu-Natal Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who implicated the minister, his associate Brown Mogotsi and deputy national police commissioner, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya.
On Wednesday morning, Mchunu said he has never communicated with Matlala, or received anything from the businessman.
“In response to the recent allegations made by provincial commissioner Mkhwanazi, and while respecting the president's call for calm, the Minister of Police, Mr Senzo Mchunu feels it is important to clarify the following: the minister has never met Mr Matlala, has never spoken to him, nor has the minister ever requested or received anything from him,” Mchunu’s spokesperson Kamogelo Mogotsi insisted.
However, Mogotsi said Mchunu initiated a review of the SAPS tender awarded to Brown Mogotsi when suspicions of possible wrongdoing surfaced.
“It was the same tender which has since been terminated,” said Kamogelo Mogotsi.
“Furthermore, while the minister knows and has met Mr Brown Mogotsi, he is just a comrade and not an associate of the minister.
“The minister has never requested or received anything from him,” said the police ministry.
IOL previously reported that during a marathon press conference on Sunday, Mkhwanazi, declared he was combat-ready and that he was willing to die for the people of South Africa.
He accused the police ministry of interference in police operations and detailed how the minister and his associate, Brown Mogotsi, had been entangled with a SAPS service provider, Matlala, who had been awarded a R360 million tender with the law enforcement agency in 2024.
In May 2025, national police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, repealed the contract citing that Matlala's company should never have made it past the first round during the bidding process.
Mkhwanazi said the recent arrest of Matlala - on attempted murder charges - led police to uncovering - through cellphone analysis - a web of alleged corruption involving the service provider Matlala, Brown Mogotsi and the minister.
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