CAPE TOWN, Wednesday 7 October 2026 — The cancellation of a R360 million police medical-services contract previously awarded to a company linked to Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala disrupted the recruitment of thousands of police trainees and contributed to SAPS ending the 2025/26 financial year more than 5,000 officers below its staffing target, Parliament has heard.
Senior South African Police Service officials disclosed the recruitment consequences while briefing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police on the organisation’s 2025/26 annual report on Wednesday.
SAPS Major-General Leon Rabie told MPs that recruitment had been completed for 6,125 candidates and funding had been secured, but their planned February enlistment could not proceed because mandatory medical assessments were unavailable after the health-risk manager’s contract was terminated.
The recruits have instead been deferred to the current financial year.
SAPS establishment remains below target
SAPS told Parliament that its current establishment stands at almost 183,000 employees.
That leaves the organisation more than 5,000 personnel below its targeted staffing level.
The recruitment interruption followed the cancellation of the Medicare24 Tshwane District contract, which was intended to provide medical screening services to police personnel, including prospective recruits.
The contract was valued at approximately R360 million.
It was cancelled in January 2025.
The company has been linked to businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, whose relationships and alleged influence within parts of the criminal justice system have subsequently featured prominently in investigations and public inquiries.
Allegations concerning Matlala remain subject to criminal and other investigative processes.
6,125 recruits could not be enlisted
Rabie said SAPS had received more than one million applications and completed its recruitment process for 6,125 candidates.
However, recruits must undergo mandatory medical assessments before enlistment.
The termination of the health-risk management contract meant those examinations could not be completed in time for the February intake.
The intake was consequently moved into the current financial year.
That has increased SAPS’s recruitment target for the year to approximately 11,000 trainees.
The South African National Defence Force is expected to assist SAPS with medical screening so that the recruitment programme can proceed.
Medicare24 contract under scrutiny
The Medicare24 contract has attracted sustained scrutiny following revelations concerning Matlala and procurement within SAPS.
Its cancellation prevented expenditure under the disputed arrangement but also left the police service without the medical-screening capacity required for its planned recruitment programme.
Wednesday’s disclosure provides a measurable operational consequence of that decision: thousands of candidates who had already completed recruitment could not enter training as scheduled.
It does not establish that cancelling the contract itself was improper.
Rather, SAPS told Parliament that the absence of a replacement health-risk management service prevented mandatory medical assessments from being completed.
SANDF to assist with new intake
The recruitment backlog now shifts into the 2026/27 financial year, significantly increasing the number of trainees SAPS must process.
SAPS plans to use SANDF medical capacity to assist with assessments for the expanded intake.
The additional recruitment comes as the police service faces pressure over staffing levels, detective capacity and its ability to respond to violent and organised crime.
Parliament’s police committee is scrutinising the service’s performance and finances as part of the annual-report process.
SAPS will now have to demonstrate that the deferred intake can be processed without creating another recruitment delay while simultaneously filling its existing staffing shortfall.
