Connecting The Dots: Hangwani Maumela's hidden hand in South Africa's crime underworld exposed

The story of South Africa’s unfolding corruption crisis - being played out in front of the full glare of live television cameras -  keeps circling back to one name.

Hangwani Morgan Maumela.

Long linked to the Tembisa Hospital scandal, Maumela now sits at the heart of testimony before the Madlanga Commission and Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee.

Each new witness, document and allegation has widened the picture, and the same figure keeps appearing in the frame.

When the Special Investigating Unit raided his home in October and seized luxury assets tied to alleged fraudulent tenders, investigators were already tracing how more than R2 billion had moved through the hospital’s procurement system.

They said Maumela headed one of the three syndicates behind the looting.

The network under his control, according to the SIU, ran through forty-one companies that drew hundreds of millions of rand from contracts flagged by murdered whistleblower Babita Deokaran.

As MPs and commissioners tried to connect the threads, Maumela’s proximity to political power pushed the inquiries into new territory.

A video from September 2023, showing President Cyril Ramaphosa walking outside his Sandhurst home with several companions, resurfaced during the investigations.

One of the men in the footage was closely linked to Maumela. Ramaphosa later confirmed he knew Maumela through a family connection, a detail that sharpened public interest as the allegations grew.

By the time the Ad Hoc Committee reached Pretoria to hear testimony from accused crime boss Vusimuzi Matlala, the path was already clear.

Whether the evidence came from officers describing compromised investigations, businessmen outlining money flows into party structures or witnesses placing syndicate members near policing decisions, the trail led back to the same point. The corruption at Tembisa Hospital was not a story of scattered wrongdoing.

It was a system, and Maumela sat near the centre of it.

Testifying in shackles at Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre Matlala told a special sitting of the Ad Hoc Committee that he knew Maumela - confirmation that South Africa's underworld had reached the upper echelons of political power in South Africa.

How Did We Get Here? 

From the moment whistleblower Babita Deokaran was gunned down in 2021 after flagging corrupt hospital contracts, a dark trail of intimidation, rigged tenders, political interference and criminality has wound its way through South Africa’s policing and political structures.

In a July 6 tell-all briefing, KZN Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, exposed the country’s security cluster - unveiling a chilling timeline of assassinations, criminal syndicates, police interference, political infiltration and corruption allegedly orbiting murder-accused tycoon Matlala.

Mkhwanazi explained that Matlala was a central node in a sophisticated criminal syndicate involving politicians, senior police, business figures and gang structures.

He claims over 120 police dockets were compromised.

His revelations, later reinforced by Matlala’s testimony before Parliament’s ad hoc committee probing crime and corruption in the SAPS, paint a harrowing portrait of how criminal networks allegedly seeped into the bloodstream of the state.

THE TIMELINE OF A CAPTURED SYSTEM

August 2021 - Babita Deokaran blows the whistle and pays with her life

August 2021: Senior Gauteng health official Babita Deokaran reported suspicious, inflated and irregular Tembisa Hospital contracts - including tenders linked to businesses later tied to Matlala.

The same month, Deokaran was assassinated outside her home. While the shooters were convicted, the masterminds remained unidentified.

Mkhwanazi said on July 6 that Deokaran had exposed “a procurement ecosystem directly intersecting with the networks we are only now uncovering.”

October 2023 - The Tebogo Thobejane murder plot

Matlala allegedly orchestrated the attempted assassination of actress Tebogo Thobejane, instructing a hitman via WhatsApp to “shoot her in the face.”

This plot became central to his May 2025 arrest.

February 2024 - Matlala lands R360 million SAPS health contract

Matlala’s Medicare24 Tshwane District won a R360 million contract to provide SAPS health services.

Internal audits later revealed the company lacked a valid operating licence and concealed key supplier arrangements. The then-Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, ordered the National Commissioner, Fannie Masemola, to cancel the contract. 

Mkhwanazi said on July 6 the contract formed “part of a procurement mafia pipeline.”

May 2024 - Bheki Cele leaves office amid serious allegations

Police Minister Bheki Cele departed office after intensifying claims that he shielded criminals, interfered in investigations, and maintained improper relationships with individuals later linked to syndicate activity.

Cele maintained his innocence and said he never received any money from Matlala. 

June 2024 - Senzo Mchunu becomes Police Minister

President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Senzo Mchunu as Police Minister.

According to Mkhwanazi, this is when political interference escalated dramatically.

Mchunu has been placed on special leave of absence following the allegations. 

September 2024 - Mary de Haas sounds the alarm

Violence monitor Mary de Haas wrote to Minister Mchunu, warning of massive spending irregularities and abuses within the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).

She cited emotional, physical and psychological abuse of officers and suspects - a letter she later verified before Parliament.

December 2024 - PKTT disbandment, raids at Molefe and Matlala homes

The PKTT conducted a raid at the home of notorious businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe and subsequently arrested him.

Molefe was accused of being the mastermind behind the murder of Armand Sward in Vereeniging. 

The police also raided Matlala’s house, searching for kidnapping victim Jerry Boshoga and illegal firearms.

Multiple guns were seized - later linked to 18 violent cases.

Both Matlala and Molefe are accused of being members of the Big Cartel. 

December 2024 - Brown Mogotsi and Political Infiltration

Mkhwanazi said that North West businessman Brown Mogotsi acted as a fixer, funnelling information, arranging political payments, and facilitating meetings between Matlala and senior politicians.

Testifying before the Madlanga Commission in November, Mogotsi admitted to helping channel Matlala’s funds to ANC structures.

Mogotsi told the commission that Matlala paid him a fortune but said the money was for ANC comrades attending the January 8 celebrations. 

December 31, 2024 - Mchunu orders PKTT disbandment

In a shock move, Mchunu signed a directive disbanding the PKTT and freezing senior SAPS appointments, especially the crime intelligence posts. 

Deputy ministers report they were not consulted. Mkhwanazi said this crippled critical investigations.

2025 -  THE HOUSE OF CARDS COLLAPSES 

January 5, 2025 - Matlala funds ANC January 8 celebrations

Matlala paid for flights and accommodation of ANC members attending the January 8 Statement event in Cape Town - allegedly at Mogotsi’s instruction.

May 2025 - MATLALA arrested for Thobejane attempted murder

Matlala was arrested for the 2023 assassination plot against his girlfriend, Tebogo Thobejane.

Matlala’s Ad Hoc Committee Testimony (2025)

Speaking from Kgosi Mampuru prison, Matlala shocked MPs with allegations that he paid Cele R500,000 in cash. 

Matlala said Cele lied under oath to the ad hoc committee that he never benefited from him. 

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa has since established the commission of inquiry into the alleged criminality, political infiltration and corruption in the SAPS and judiciary.

Mchunu, Cele, the suspended deputy police commissioner, Shadrack Sibiya, Mkhwanazi, Crime Intelligence Head, Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, De Haas have all testified before the two platforms, the Madlanga Commission and the Ad Hoc Committee, to explain their side of the story. 

29 September 2023 – Video Surfaces of Ramaphosa Meeting Maumela

A video recorded on September 29, 2023 resurfaced showing President Cyril Ramaphosa walking outside his Sandhurst home alongside Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Jomo Sibiya - then a special adviser to the president - as well as DJ Tbo Touch and Bishop Noel Jones.

The footage drew attention in light of investigations into alleged corruption at Tembisa Hospital.

October 2025 – SIU Raid on Maumela

In October, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) raided the home of alleged Tembisa Hospital corruption kingpin Hangwani Maumela, seizing assets allegedly linked to the looting of public funds.

The SIU investigation uncovered that three syndicates had looted more than R2 billion through fraudulent tenders, inflated prices and non-existent deliveries at Tembisa Hospital.

The SIU alleged that Maumela headed one of these syndicates, using a network of 41 companies to siphon about R820 million over two years.

Authorities preserved R133.5 million in assets - including three Lamborghinis, artwork, designer furniture and other luxury goods - with R900 million targeted for recovery.

October 2025 – Ramaphosa Confirms Knowing Maumela

On October 25, Ramaphosa confirmed that he knew Maumela, explaining that decades earlier he had married Maumela’s aunt.

However, Ramaphosa insisted he had “no personal or business relationship” with Maumela and had not previously met him, despite the 2023 video showing the two in proximity.

November 2025 – Matlala Appears Before Ad Hoc Committee

Appearing before Parliament’s ad hoc committee, Matlala revealed that he had started his security company without proper documentation.

“I started the company from scratch, but when I started it, I did not have PSIRA. Morgan, by then, had it - so I opened the company using his details,” he said.

“Then after having my own PSIRA, I returned the company under my own name.”

PSIRA is the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, which is a statutory body in South Africa that regulates the private security industry.

He was responding to a question from MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe about the company’s registration.

Shongwe also asked whether Matlala was referring to the same Maumela allegedly linked to Ramaphosa.

“People say he’s his nephew (referring to Ramaphosa), but he’s not his nephew. They do know each other, but he’s not his nephew,” Matlala replied.

During a later appearance before the committee, Patriot Alliance (PA) MP Ashley Sauls questioned Matlala about his business dealings, his personal motivations and the moral consequences of corruption.

Sauls asked whether he loved money.

“Yes, I do,” Matlala responded without hesitation.

Sauls then referenced a biblical scripture stating that the “love of money is the root of all evil.”

Matlala replied, “Yes, but I’m not a Christian. My religion says that we must enjoy everything that God has put on this earth, but legally and in a way that we don’t become greedy.”

Sauls then confronted him with evidence indicating that Maumela had been added as a director of Matlala’s company, CAT-1/CAT Security, in 2017.

Matlala confirmed, “Yes, that’s true.”

Sauls said that it had been widely reported that Maumela spearheaded a network that benefited from corrupt contracts at Tembisa Hospital, and that Matlala’s company had received RFQs from the hospital as a registered vendor.

Matlala again agreed.

Sauls referenced investigative findings showing that vendors were selected irregularly and linked this to the murder of Deokaran, who was shot 12 times outside her home after exposing corruption at Tembisa Hospital.

He told Matlala, “That child is 12 years old and was 12 at the time. She was shot with 12 bullets.

The number 12 speaks of a new governmental order. Babita’s blood is speaking from the ground.

There is a new governmental order coming. Whistleblowers who have been victimised are going to win, and those involved in evil are going to lose.”

Committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane then offered Matlala an opportunity to respond.

“No, I don’t have any comments,” he said.

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za 

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za 

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