Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala and four co-accused appeared at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, where a trial-within-a-trial was derailed after police officers blocked defence lawyers from consulting with their clients following adjournment.
The accused face 25 counts including conspiracy to commit murder, money-laundering, and the attempted murders of actress Tebogo Thobejane and taxi boss Joe ‘Ferrari’ Sibanyoni. The co-accused are Tsakane Matlala (Cat’s wife), Tiego Floyd Mabusela, Nthabiseng Nzama, and Musa Kekana, the alleged hitman and accused number one.
The confrontation unfolded after Judge Cassim Moosa adjourned proceedings, when members of the Political Killings Task Team and uniformed officers prevented legal representatives from accessing their clients in the cells. Advocate Riaan Gissing, representing Kekana, told the court his client was manhandled during the confrontation.
“These are my instructions from accused number one, that he was manhandled, pushed and pulled around when taken to the cells, obviously out of our sight,” Gissing said, addressing Judge Moosa. He described a “blatant refusal” to grant access to Kekana for reasons unknown to the defence.
Advocate Annelene van der Heeder, representing Matlala, told the court she had to bang against the stairs to stop the shouting and bring the accused back. “The aggression was unnecessary,” she said.
Judge Moosa described the disturbance as pandemonium and ordered that defence lawyers be entitled to consult with their clients at all material times, including after adjournment before 4pm. He warned that unreasonable interference could result in further steps against responsible individuals and could amount to contempt of court.
The trial-within-a-trial concerns the admissibility of evidence obtained during Kekana’s arrest on 17 April 2024 outside a witness’s home in Kew, where he and Michal Pule Tau were detained in connection with the murder of Armand Swart. The defence has accused police of “severe unlawful conduct,” citing allegations from a state witness that officers covered Kekana’s eyes for four hours, fired two shots, and never read him his rights.
Earlier on Tuesday, Judge Moosa ruled that prosecutors could use Kekana’s 2024 bail proceedings as evidence, rejecting the defence’s argument that the magistrate failed to adequately warn him his affidavit could be used against him. The defence then introduced a document detailing the movement of 15 police vehicles on the day of Kekana’s arrest, which the prosecutor argued amounted to an ambush.
Judge Moosa sided with the prosecution, stating the State was entitled to a reasonable opportunity to consider the document. The trial-within-a-trial was postponed to Thursday, 10 September 2026, and the main trial remains on hold pending the outcome of this admissibility challenge.
This story was confirmed by reports from News24, Sowetan, The South African, and EWN. Cape Flats News was not present at the Gauteng High Court and has relied on these outlets’ reporting. The allegations of police misconduct during Kekana’s arrest remain contested and unverified independently.
It remains unknown whether any officers will face contempt proceedings following Judge Moosa’s warning. This author will check for developments when the trial-within-a-trial resumes on Thursday, 10 September 2026.