PRETORIA - Alleged crime kingpin, Vusimuzi Cat Matlala has been named as the John Wick of Mamelodi.
The name dominated headlines around 2021, when a man allegedly targeted members of the Boko Haram criminal gang in what many believed to be a wave of vigilante killings in Mamelodi.
Now, testifying before the Madlanga Commission, controversial North West businessman, Brown Mogotsi, claims there is concrete evidence identifying Matlala as the man behind the so-called John Wick attacks.
Mogotsi refers to a Crime Intelligence report that includes a six-page presentation on Boko Haram. According to the report, the man named John Wick has a photograph, ID number, criminal history, pending cases, and withdrawn matters.
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Mogotsi further claims that this was brought to the attention of then Police Minister Bheki Cele in 2018.
This means that, according to Mogotsi, police had prior knowledge of Matlala’s alleged underworld profile.
Mogotsi further claims that Cele has publicly downplayed his knowledge of Matlala, claiming he'd only met him in December 2024.
He insists that the existence of the intelligence report contradicts this claim.
Mogotsi, an alleged political fixer, has been mentioned several times as a key player in political interference in the criminal justice system.
He is the first witness to take the stand as the commission enters phase two of its work, where implicated individuals will be testifying.