Masemola to join Cat Matlala in the dock in hospital tender case
· Citizen
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola will appear alongside Vusimusi ‘Cat’ Matlala and his co-accused in May.
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South Africa’s most senior police official made his first appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Masemola is facing four counts of contravening the Public Finance Management Act in relation to a R360 million South African Police Service (Saps) health services tender.
The state requested that Masemola’s matter be added to the case involving Matlala and 12 co-accused.
The state prosecutor confirmed that the alleged offences did not constitute schedule five charges, with Masemola appearing via a summons served on 26 March.
The charge sheet in Matlala’s matter will be amended to reflect the addition of Masemola, with the matter to resume on 13 May.
‘I know that I am not guilty’
Speaking to the media at the court, Masemola was confident of his innocence and urged the Saps members not to be distracted.
“The police service must continue doing their work. As I said, it’s the beginning, we have discovered a lot of organised crime in the country.
“They must remain committed and do the work. Yes, I might be being dragged closer to serious criminals – which I don’t know them – but they must stay positive and serve the people pf South Africa.
“I know that I am not guilty, I am not wrong, but of course, the trial must still take its course,” said Masemola.
On the possibility of continuing in his role, Masemola refused to elaborate on what may have been discussed with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“I don’t want to discuss my discussion with the president in public, so leave it for him and me,” he stated.
‘The courts will make decisions’
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the charges would not have been brought against Masemola unless “we did not believe that we’ve got a water-tight case”.
He dismissed allegations of factional battles within the security cluster or Masemola being targeted for arrest, saying the decision to prosecute Masemola “was based on the law”.
He confirmed that the charges against Masemola related only to the PFMA, and not the same as the corruption and defeating the ends of justice charges facing the others on the Matala case.
“We are not the one’s who are saying someone is guilty or not, we are just presenting the matters to the court, and the courts will make decisions on the basis of the evidence,” said Kganyago told the media outside the court.
The NPA spokesperson did not rule out further arrests and was unable to comment on whether any of the accused had agreed to cooperate in submitting evidence as a state witness.
“If we get information about others, then they will be brought here. We can only bring them here if they have actively been involved,”
“When people are available to be state witnesses, we can’t say no to that, but we can not confirm yet as we have to protect them,” Kganyago concluded.
This is a developing story