Cat Matlala
A white sheet found at kidnapping suspect Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s home resembled the one seen in ransom videos of Pretoria businessman Jerry Boshoga, the Madlanga Commission heard. Investigators believe Boshoga may have been held there after his November 2024 abduction in Rooihuiskraal.
A white sheet found inside the home of kidnapping suspect Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala resembled the one seen in ransom videos of Pretoria businessman Jerry Boshoga, the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry heard on Friday.
Boshoga, a Centurion businessman and farmer, was kidnapped on 18 November 2024 in Rooihuiskraal. Videos later circulated showing him being assaulted and demanding that his family pay ransom money.
Witness C, a member of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) and a certified forensic investigator, said the sheet was discovered during a police operation at Matlala’s Pretoria home on 6 December 2024.
“In the room of the man, Boshoga was not there, but there was a white sheet that was very distinctive because it had torn edges and sides, and it was tied on the window as a curtain,” Witness C told the commission. “That white sheet is distinctive because one of the videos for the ransom sent to the family of Boshoga, we could see that the sheet resembles the one on the video.”
He said this led investigators to believe that the room may have been used to hold Boshoga captive. “It was just a white clean sheet and to me it became very odd to find that sheet tied to the window in that house,” he said.
A man found inside the room, identified as a Malawian national working for Matlala, told investigators “he was given the sheet by his boss”. However, the man denied knowing Boshoga or his whereabouts.
During the same operation, officers found two men outside the main house who said they worked for Kat VIP Security, a company belonging to Matlala. Two pistols and two rifles were recovered from their cottage. According to Witness C, the permits presented were irregular.
During an interview with Matlala, Witness C said they sat inside the room and asked for his cellphone. “He consented to his phone being seized and searched, he gave us his PIN codes and deactivated facial recognition,” he said.
The witness added that when they entered Matlala’s bedroom, he indicated he wanted to speak to the officers. “He informed us that he knew the reasons for us being at his place and that we were there looking for Ms Nqobile Dikgale and her child. He said he had been trying to assist the family in locating the kidnapped individuals, and that he could do that because he once assisted a Pakistani family in a similar case,” Witness C said.
According to the witness, Matlala claimed he was being suspected of kidnappings around Gauteng because of his connections in the security industry. He allegedly told investigators that he had previously been arrested for offences ranging from common robbery and armed robbery to cash-in-transit heists, but said those were in the past and that he was now a businessman.
When asked if he knew Boshoga, Matlala reportedly said they had been friends since 2012 and had once been involved in criminal activities together. He said he did not know where Boshoga was but confirmed that the businessman’s family had approached him for help to locate him.
Matlala also told investigators that Boshoga was involved in the drug trade and owed people money. He claimed he had lent him R5 million to buy a machine for processing drugs. He further identified some of Boshoga’s business associates in the same trade, saying the businessman had told him he had fallen out with them and that they might want to harm him.
Matlala has also been implicated as a member of a criminal network known as the Big Five, which has been linked to organised crime activities under investigation by the commission.
