GENERAL MKHWANAZI’S ABOUT-TURN EXPLAINED!

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has explained why he retracted earlier corruption claims against former Police Minister Bheki Cele.

While testifying before a parliamentary ad hoc committee probing corruption within the criminal justice system, Mkhwanazi had initially alleged that Cele received unlawful payments from businessman Vusimuzi Matlala, also known as “Cat.”

However, upon returning to testify on Wednesday, Mkhwanazi acknowledged that his earlier claims were based on incorrect information supplied by an analyst.

He said the analyst had been examining cellphone data from two of Matlala’s devices, but errors in interpreting that data led to the confusion.

The issue centred around a contact saved as “Bab Ndosi,” a name linked to Cele. Although Cele’s real number was stored on the phone, the “Bab Ndosi” contact was actually a different number, differing by just one digit. This similarity caused the system – and likely Matlala himself – to mistakenly associate the number with Cele.

Further investigation revealed that the number belonged to a man in Mpumalanga, who has since given a statement to police.

The man reported receiving WhatsApp messages containing bank details he did not understand and engaged with the sender to clarify.

Believing he was communicating with Cele, Matlala requested banking details to transfer money.

The Mpumalanga resident provided his own account information, and Matlala unknowingly sent the funds to the wrong person.

When Matlala eventually realised the mistake, according to TimesLive he questioned the recipient’s identity. After learning the truth, he deleted the messages, according to Mkhwanazi.