By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The businessman Suleiman Carrim not only had links with alleged organised crime figure Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala and ANC fixer Brown Mogotsi, but was also connected to tender tycoon Hangwani Maumela, the Madlanga Commission has heard.
Carrim is a longstanding African National Congress (ANC) member and activist in North West.
On Monday, Carrim admitted to having a relationship with not only Matlala but also tender tycoon Morgan Maumela, who’s been targeted by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for his role in the R2-billion Tembisa Hospital looting. Whistleblower Babita Deokaran was gunned down after she questioned the looting of the hospital via questionable tenders.
Carrim, Matlala and Maumela appear to be connected by a tangled web of business deals and financial favours involving huge sums of money closely related to tenders.
Carrim’s request to testify in camera was based on claims he had received threats from individuals unknown to the commission. However, his argument was weakened by the fact that his name and image were already public following his appearance before the commission in February and his unsuccessful bid in the Gauteng Division of the High Court to prevent him from testifying.
The proceedings briefly turned heated on Tuesday after Carrim’s legal team accused the commission of unfairly criticising their client.
Carrim’s legal counsel argued that the commission was probing business dealings that had not previously been indicated as part of the inquiry.
One of Carrim’s attorneys, Advocate Rafiq Barnard, told the commission it was unfair to suggest that Carrim had withheld information and accused the inquiry of prejudging his client.
Barnard requested a two-hour adjournment to allow the legal team to assess what they described as new areas of questioning.
Commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga strongly rejected the allegation that the commission had prejudged the matter.
Evidence leader Mathew Chaskalson revealed that Carrim’s company, Tasmica Construction, made two payments totaling about R2.1 million to Medicare24, between June and October 2024.
The payments had not been included in Carrim’s original statement to the commission, prompting questions about why they had gone undisclosed.
Carrim had earlier testified that in June 2024 he loaned Medicare24 R10 million to help the company service a tender it had secured from the South African Police Service (SAPS).
During questioning, Chaskalson probed how such large payments could have gone unnoticed in Tasmica’s accounting.
Carrim explained that all financial entries are captured by an employee following the instructions of his accountant.
“Ordinarily, if a payment of one million rands just says ‘payment to loan’ and doesn’t describe who it is to or from, the office checks with the accountant,” Carrim said.
“Someone in the office would then account for it, under the guidance of my accountant, who instructs the capturer for accounting purposes.”
Carrim told the commission that Tasmica prepares annual financial statements, which are audited, with the financial year ending in February.
He noted that normally, audited statements are available a couple of months after year-end.
However, Chaskalson highlighted that the payments of R1 million on 27 June and R1.12 million on 7 October should have been reflected in the accounts and could have been identified during audits.
Carrim acknowledged the discrepancy and said it was “troubling,” stressing that he did not authorise the payments.
“I didn’t authorise these payments. This is troubling me now. It’s a lot of money, and I need to find out what happened,” Carrim said.
He said he would require more time to investigate how the transactions occurred, including checking with the capturer and other staff who may have been involved.
Carrim thanked the commission for flagging the payments and said he would work with his accountants to clarify the discrepancies. He is expected to return to the commission on April 16 to continue his testimony.