By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The North West businessman Suleiman Carrim, who was expected to testify before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, is now expected to testify on March 9 and 10, following his application for a postponement.
Carrim was due to testify in the Commission on Friday, 06 February 2026 after the High Court dismissed his bid to block his subpoena.
But his lawyers argued that they have not had sufficient time to peruse he documents from the commission.
Carrim has been accused of accepting R2.5-million for helping criminally accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala obtain payments related to his R360-million SAPS contract, which was later cancelled.
Beyond his relationship with Matlala, Carrim is also expected to testify about his ties with sidelined police minister Senzo Mchunu and the Crime Intelligence counter-intelligence and security head, Feroz Khan.
The commission has, since September 2025, been hearing evidence of criminality, political interference and corruption within South Africa’s law enforcement agencies
Appearing before the commission on Friday, Carrim’s counsel, Advocate Kameel Premhid, argued that his client had been prejudiced by the late provision of key documents relevant to his testimony.
Premhid told the commission that while Carrim had previously received document bundles running into 2,000 and 4,000 pages, the 77 pages directly linked to the questions he is expected to face were only furnished on Thursday.
He said Carrim only became aware at that stage that those 77 pages constituted the evidence central to his questioning, leaving his legal team with insufficient time to prepare.
Commission chairperson, retired Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, interjected, pointing out that the High Court had found Carrim and his attorneys to have been “obstructive” in their dealings with the commission in their attempts to avoid testifying.
Premhid responded that the judge was entitled to make such findings but maintained that Carrim’s legal team had merely been seeking clarity on which documents were relevant to his client’s testimony.
He reiterated that the commission only provided the relevant pages on Thursday.
Commissioner Sesi Baloyi acknowledged the workload faced by legal teams appearing before the inquiry but urged Premhid to find time to ensure Carrim’s statement is filed by 27 February.
Premhid accepted the deadline.
However, evidence leader Advocate Paul Chaskalson pushed back, defending the commission’s legal team and accusing Carrim’s lawyers of displaying an obstructive attitude, including refusing to meet with commission lawyers.
Chaskalson said it was “wholly incorrect” to suggest that the issues would have been resolved had the 77 pages been provided earlier.
As a result, postponement was granted, and Carrim will now testify on 9 and 10 March.
Meanwhile continuing with her evidence on Friday, Brigadier Rachel Matjeng was questioned about WhatsApp exchanges with Matlala.
She played an oversight role in the implementation of a R360 million SAPS contract awarded in June 2024 to Medicare24 Tshwane District, a healthcare subsidiary linked to Matlala.
The contract was terminated in May 2025 after R48 million had been paid out.
Although evidence presented to the commission showed that Matlala made multiple payments to Matjeng, she denied that the money was linked to the tender.
Matjeng was questioned about WhatsApp exchanges with Matlala in February 2025, in which Matlala asked her for a code that would allow him to submit claims for non-arrival fees.
She explained that Matlala sought to claim for 337 police officers who had failed to attend scheduled medical surveillance appointments, out of a total of 553 bookings.
She contacted Matlala to arrange additional appointments for officers who had not attended, arguing that this was done to minimise fruitless and wasteful expenditure for Saps.
According to Matjeng, 105 officers attended the rescheduled appointments, reducing the number of non-arrivals to 215.
A further round of bookings in September 2024 brought the number down to 144.
“I wanted to reduce the wasteful expenditure so it can be less with Medicare, “she said.
She told the commission that she did not understand why Matlala requested the code in question.
The inquiry also examined messages sent on 3 March 2025, in which Matjeng asked Matlala to purchase the weight-loss medication Ozempic for her.
The drug is primarily prescribed for diabetes. Matlala responded that Ozempic’s price of R4 500 was “hectic”.
Matjeng explained she approached Matlala “as a boyfriend” to buy three pens of Ozempic because she was struggling to access the medication despite having a valid prescription.
She told the commission that she uses the drug “the normal way” and denied undergoing a BBL procedure.
“I’m just explaining because I was told that Ozempic will go hand in hand with BBL and those I’m seeing at work who did the BBL, they also use Ozempic.
In its interim report handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa in December, the commission listed Matjeng as among five senior police managers with prima facie evidence of wrongdoing against them, who were recommended for criminal investigation. They will be investigated by a special investigations task team established by Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia and Masemola.