Connecting the dots to Hangwani Morgan Maumela.
Image: IOL Graphics
North West businessman, Suliman Carrim, admitted to advancing R500,000 to businessman Hangwani Maumela, a figure linked to alleged corruption at Tembisa Hospital, after initially being asked to pay R750,000 by Vusumuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Carrim told the Madlanga Commission on Monday that Matlala instructed him to make the payment to Maumela and assured him that the money would be repaid.
“Matlala told me to pay Maumela,” Carrim told the commission.
Under questioning, Carrim said Matlala pressured him to make several payments to Maumela despite his not knowing the details or legitimacy of the underlying agreements.
Pressed by co-commissioner Sesi Baloyi on why he would transfer such a large amount of money without verifying the arrangement, Carrim said he believed he was simply participating in a business transaction.
“I was just doing business. I saw the opportunity and I took it,” he said. “I did not know that these people were involved in wrong things.”
Maumela has been implicated as a key figure in an alleged R2 billion looting scheme linked to procurement irregularities at Tembisa Hospital.
Following a 2025 Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation, authorities raided Maumela’s Sandton mansion and seized more than R300 million in luxury assets, including high-end vehicles such as a R52 million Pagani Huayra, Lamborghinis and several properties.
Investigators allege Maumela used more than 40 shell companies to channel about R820 million through fraudulent contracts tied to the hospital.
During the hearing, evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson SC also questioned Carrim about his relationship with Maumela.
Carrim told the commission that he first became connected to Maumela through a property purchase in 2021.
He said his family had been looking for a house in Johannesburg when an estate agent showed them a property that was later revealed to belong to Maumela.
Carrim said he was in Mahikeng at the time while his wife and son viewed the property.“We bought the house around November or December 2021,” he said.
“I did not meet Maumela at that time. He met my family while I was still in Mafikeng.”
Carrim said he only met Maumela months later, around February 2022, when issues with the property required repairs and technical work.
“We reached out to him and he came to the house. That was the first time I met him,” Carrim said.
He told the commission that Maumela helped arrange contractors and fix problems at the property.
“He was friendly and a gentleman,” Carrim said. “He helped me with the house, fixing the repairs and sorting things out. From around 2022, we became friends.”
Carrim is expected to resume his testimony on Tuesday.
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