Pretoria – Several top police officers, suspected of unlawfully awarding a multi-million rand tender to a company owned by alleged crime kingpin Vusi “Cat” Matlala, have been arrested.
“The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) effected an arrest of 12 senior police officers and a director of a company in relation to the irregular awarding of a tender to Medicare 24,” NPA National Spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said late on Tuesday, 24 March 2026.
“All accused are expected to make their first appearance before the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on charges of corruption, fraud, and the Contravention of the PFMA [Public Finance Management Act].”
The three-year contract, worth R360 million, irregularly awarded to Medicare 24 in June 2024, was supposedly to provide occupational health services to the South African Police Service (SAPS).
This included:
- Pre-employment and routine medical screenings for SAPS members
- Ill-health and injury-on-duty assessments
- Termination-related health evaluations
- Other health risk management services for police employees
However, the tender was cancelled in May 2025 after an internal SAPS audit uncovered serious irregularities (including failure to verify mandatory documents, possible fronting, altered bid documents, insufficient advertising period, and lack of proper due diligence on the bidder’s background and capabilities).
Details of the anomaly were uncovered during the ongoing Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into wrongdoing in the police and judiciary.
The matter was also probed by Parliament’s Ad Hoc committee.
