Businessman and ANC Ngaka Modiri-Molema regional treasurer Suleiman Carrim has blamed his associate and alleged influence peddler Brown Mogotsi for the use of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s name in WhatsApp chats presented at the Madlanga Commission.
The chats show Carrim allegedly undertaking to have the minister intervene to expedite payments to Medicare24, a company belonging to alleged criminal mastermind Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
“I now realise that Brown played me — that they both played me — because he was sending me messages to forward to Mr Matlala. I said to him at the time that this is a joke, but he assured me that if I wanted to be paid, I needed to stay close to Mr Matlala and convince him that I could get the minister to intervene in his contract,” he said.
Carrim claims he lent Matlala R10 million, which he expected would be repaid from the proceeds of the Medicare24 contract. He said he only received a few instalments amounting to less than R2 million.
He also stated that he has never met Mchunu, adding that it was Mogotsi’s idea for him to pretend to be close to the minister.
“I have been branded as an enabler due to my alleged relationship with the minister. There is no factual basis for such a statement. I confirm that I have never had a personal or professional relationship with the minister. I have never spoken to the minister,” Carrim said.
Carrim said he went along with Mogotsi’s plan to pretend to be close to Mchunu because, in their two-decade relationship, the self-proclaimed police informant had previously proven reliable, including running leadership campaigns within the ANC.
“Yes, I believed that Brown had the influence at the time. On many occasions in the North West, especially within ANC structures, Brown would lead campaigns. He led one of the campaigns in 2017, which was a CR campaign, and again in 2022.
So, based on how I know him, I believed he had these contacts, and I was convinced,” he said.