‘I made a bad choice’: evidence links Carrim to dubious transactions with Maumela

The facilitation of payments between corruption-accused Vusi “Cat” Matlala and Hangwani Morgan Maumela cannot be interpreted as money laundering but rather a business deal turned sour, North West businessman Suliman Carrim told the Madlanga commission on Monday.

Carrim finally took the witness stand after a failed court battle between the commission and his legal team and another failed application for his testimony to be heard in camera. His legal team has complained he is being ill-treated.

The commission, chaired by retired deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate allegations by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi of criminal infiltration in the justice cluster.

Carrim, who owns a security company, faces allegations of attempting to influence suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu to delay a probe into Matlala’s company Medicare24, which had a R360m tender with the SAPS.

Carrim testified his link to Matlala was based on a business deal that went wrong, and he lost about R8.2m when Medicare24’s contract was cancelled last year.

He told the commission he advanced a loan of R10m to Matlala in June 2024 to assist him with his tender. He was not paid any money until February 4 2025.

On that day, he was paid R1.5m after Matlala was paid by the police.

Shortly after the payment, Carrim sent a message to Matlala saying, “Morgan sorted.” He was referring to Maumela.

Carrim’s company paid R500,000 to a company linked to Maumela and later paid R250,000.

When quizzed why he sent money to Maumela, Carrim said Matlala had asked him to advance the money to Maumela on his behalf, but Matlala apparently could not explain properly why he could not send it directly.

Carrim told the commission he was not acting as a “conduit” between Matlala and Maumela but sent the money because he was put under pressure and was “scared”.

“They both kept on putting me under pressure to pay this money,” he said.

Maumela, whose companies were flagged by murdered state official Babita Deokaran in suspected tender corruption at Tembisa Hospital last September, faced a National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) preservation order to seize property worth R325m.

A report by a forensic accounting investigator before the high court in Joburg revealed that the Maumela family trust received more than R2.3bn between 2018 and 2023, which is more than the amount in frozen assets.

Companies linked to Matlala were also flagged to have been involved in the Tembisa hospital fraud.

I had not done this with the intention of committing any fraud. I just got caught in a web of people. I was just doing my business as a businessman. Obviously I made a bad choice.

—  Suliman Carrim

Evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson put it to Carrim the transactions he made between Matlala and Maumela could be interpreted as money laundering should the commission take the position that the Medicare24 contract was awarded fraudulently and that funds flowing from the tender were a result of fraud.

Chaskalson said in that scenario the commission could make recommendations that Carrim, Matlala and Maumela face a money laundering probe.

Carrim pleaded innocence saying when he met Matlala in June 2024 there were no corruption allegations regarding the specific tender.

“I had not done this with the intention of committing any fraud. I just got caught in a web of people. I was just doing my business as a businessman. Obviously I made a bad choice,” Carrim said.

Bank records also showed Carrim’s company paid more than R40m to Luthanga Trading linked to Maumela in 2023-24. Carrim said the money was a repayment to Maumela after he pulled out of a mining-related business with him.

Carrim, who also faces allegations of influencing Mchunu, told the commission he had no relationship with the minister.

He said the fact that Medicare24’s contract was cancelled, leading to him losing millions, was proof he had no relationship with the minister.

Matlala’s WhatsApp messages showed Carrim told him in May he had sent the minister a message that read: “Good morning, minister. I just received a call from our guy, a service provider for our health risk management project; he’s got very serious concerns. Apparently, you gave a directive to scrutinise his contract, and while they are at it, they must stall as much as they can to release purchase orders until you guys come up with something that can warrant the termination of the service.”

Carrim, however, told the commission the message was sent to him by his friend Brown Mogotsi.

Phone records show Mogotsi sent the message to Matlala.

Carrim said Mogotsi advised him to send the message to Matlala and mislead Matlala about the alleged relationship with the minister as a trick to get his money back.

“I was desperate and I needed to do it,” Carrim said.

Carrim said the impression he had a relationship with the minister was false.

He said he was not aware that Mogotsi was talking to Matlala at the time. He described the exchange between Matlala and Mogotsi as a scenario of both playing him.

Mchunu told a parliamentary committee probing allegations of criminal syndicate infiltration in the security cluster that he received the message requesting that the probe be delayed but maintained he did not respond to it.

The minister said: “It could be a person I may have met once or something like that.”

Carrim also faces allegations of having internal police documents. He said he received the documents from Mogotsi.

He will continue with his testimony on Tuesday.