The SAPS divisional commissioner for supply chain management, Lt-Gen Molefe Fani, has confirmed that the entity did not run a background check on the company belonging to controversial tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, Medicare24 Tshwane District, before awarding it a health contract in June 2024.
The contract was subsequently cancelled by national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola in 2025 due to alleged irregularities.
Fani, who also chaired the bid adjudication committee (BAC) that approved the contract, faced intense questioning from MPs regarding his role in overseeing the process.
DA MP Ian Cameron asked Fani why the adjudication committee failed to flag Matlala, given his previous conviction for theft in 2001 and his alleged implication in procurement fraud at Tembisa Hospital.
“Does SAPS not conduct basic criminal or background checks on its suppliers?” Cameron asked.
“In the procurement process, we don’t do that,” Fani said. “There are instances where there are commodities where we run background checks. The end user will indicate to us if we have to do that. In this instance, they were not done.”
Fani maintained that the standard SAPS procurement process does not mandate security checks on suppliers.
“The procurement process that’s approved in SAPS does not make a pronouncement for security checking of the suppliers.
“There are instances where we have done that, where we are looking at security information and any other risks we have identified in the procurement process.
“In this process, it wasn’t done. It wasn’t a deliberate act that we wanted that company to operate at SAPS. The process was correctly followed, but there are steps that were not done correctly.”
He added that he was not aware of Matlala’s alleged criminality until it became popular in the media late last year.
Cameron criticised the practice, saying, “You allowed a man like Matlala to get access to the SAPS.”
MK Party MP Sibonelo Nomvalo argued that Fani should be held accountable for failing to spot the issues, citing his crucial oversight role.
“You are the biggest role player in the SCM value chain of SAPS. You appoint bid evaluation committee members, you sit in the bid adjudication committee,” Nomvalo asserted. “If there’s a finding made which says proper procurement processes were not followed, you are the first person who must be blamed because of the role you play in the value chain of the SCM of SAPS.”
Fani defended his actions, saying, “That could not be correct because the documentation I have received provided me with sufficient information together with the members of the BAC to make an informed decision with regard to what was presented to me.”
Nomvalo then accused Fani of negligence.
“Signing any document without satisfying yourself of the contents is negligence. You’re being negligent.”
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