Hearing record

Day 123

22 June 2026

Evidence led by Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC

Medicare24 CEO Mike van Wyk is a no-show, admitted for psychiatric care, so chief evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson SC leads the WhatsApp trail in his absence - cocaine bricks, fanned cash and a hunt for EMPD blue lights.

Official transcript (PDF) ↗All hearing days

Awaiting portrait

The day in brief

What you need to know

Michael 'Mike' van Wyk was subpoenaed but did not testify; his attorney Sandy du Plessis told the commission he had suffered severe panic attacks and was being admitted for psychiatric care, and the commission accepted his medical affidavit and postponed his appearance.
Rather than lose the sitting, chief evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC led the documentary evidence in Van Wyk's absence.
The centrepiece was a 6 April 2025 WhatsApp exchange over a video of five one-kilogram 'Prestige'-branded bricks, which forensic analysis matched to blocks that tested positive for cocaine.
Evidence leaders read the exchange, with Matlala's 'get me a good price' and Van Wyk's voice-note reply 'we'll go in at 250', as pointing to an alleged drug deal.
Earlier chats showed Van Wyk seeking blue and red lights, EMPD branding, a memorandum of understanding and 'appointment cards' for a private specialised unit, alongside an exchange the leaders read as a possible bribe.
The commission heard that a video of Van Wyk fanning cash was said to have 'fast-tracked' the EMPD blue-lights request, and a message in which Matlala boasted that his 'person will be National Commissioner'.
Van Wyk denies ever receiving the cocaine video and may file a supplementary affidavit by 6 July 2026; all allegations are untested and he is presumed innocent.

Full coverage

The day, in depth

A subpoena, then a no-show

Van Wyk had been compelled to appear, but on the morning his attorney Sandy du Plessis told the commission he had suffered severe panic attacks and was being admitted for psychiatric care. The commission accepted a medical affidavit and postponed his oral evidence rather than compelling a witness who was being hospitalised.

Leading evidence into an empty chair

To avoid wasting the day, chief evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC put the documentary record on the record without the witness present: WhatsApp chats, voice notes and videos passing between Van Wyk, attempted-murder-accused tenderpreneur Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala and suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi. Everything led was the evidence leaders' interpretation, still to be answered by Van Wyk.

The cocaine video and the price

On 6 April 2025 Matlala received, from a third party, a video showing five one-kilogram bricks being weighed and forwarded it to Van Wyk. The bricks carried 'Prestige' branding and were forensically matched to blocks that tested positive for cocaine. In the accompanying exchange Matlala wrote 'get me a good price' and Van Wyk replied by voice note that they would 'go in at 250', which the leaders submitted reads as negotiation over a drug transaction.

Blue lights, branding and a private unit

Beyond the drug allegation, the chats painted Van Wyk pursuing the trappings of state policing power for a private specialised unit: blue and red lights, EMPD branding, a memorandum of understanding and 'appointment cards'. The commission heard that a video of Van Wyk fanning cash was framed internally as motivation that 'fast-tracked' the blue-lights request, while Matlala at one point told him his 'person will be National Commissioner'.

What Van Wyk says

Van Wyk's affidavit denied that he ever received the cocaine video, although the commission indicated it had since been established that the video reached his phone. His legal team signalled he may file a supplementary affidavit by 6 July 2026. He has not been cross-examined, denies wrongdoing and is presumed innocent.

In their words

Key moments from the record

“Get me a good price.”

Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, forwarding the video. A 6 April 2025 message read into the record by the evidence leaders; the reading of it as a drug negotiation is their submission and remains untested.

“We'll go in at 250.”

Michael van Wyk, voice-note reply. The reply the evidence leaders attribute to Van Wyk in the same exchange; he denies receiving the underlying cocaine video and has not been cross-examined.

“My person will be National Commissioner.”

Matlala to Van Wyk. A message the evidence leaders read as a boast about political influence over policing; untested and denied.

Our analysis

The bottom line

Leading a witness's own documents while he is absent is procedurally striking, and the commission was careful to frame it as evidence still to be answered rather than proven. That caveat matters: Van Wyk has not been cross-examined, and his denial that he ever received the cocaine video sits directly against the commission's indication that forensics place the clip on his phone. Both propositions cannot stand, and only his testimony will resolve which.

The forensic match of the 'Prestige' bricks to cocaine is the single hardest fact of the day, but a positive drug test on a video is not the same as proof of who bought, sold or intended what. The 'get me a good price' and 'we'll go in at 250' exchange is suggestive on the leaders' reading, yet its meaning is exactly the contested ground a supplementary affidavit and live evidence are meant to test.

Taken together, the blue-lights pursuit, EMPD branding, appointment cards and the cash-fanning video sketch a private businessman reaching for the powers and insignia of the state, which is why the commission cares about it beyond any single drug allegation. None of it is a finding. The fair course, which the commission has left open, is to reserve judgement until Van Wyk answers in person.

Analysis is the archive’s own comment on the public proceedings, grounded in the record above. It weighs the evidence and the process; questions of individual guilt are for the courts and the commission to decide. Everyone named is presumed innocent.

On the record

Who testified this day

Subpoenaed · appearance postponed

Michael van Wyk

Chief Executive, Medicare24 Holdings

View profile →

Follow the threads

Who Michael van Wyk connects to

WhatsApp counterpart on blue lights

Julius Mkhwanazi

The suspended EMPD deputy chief van Wyk messaged about blue and red lights, EMPD branding, a draft memorandum of understanding, 'appointment cards' and a possible payment. Both are presumed innocent.

View profile →Same R360m Medicare24 tender

Suleiman Carrim

Both are tied to the irregular R360m SAPS Medicare24 health-services tender - van Wyk as Medicare24 Holdings CEO, Carrim as an alleged funder of Cat Matlala. Untested; both presumed innocent.

View profile →Medicare24 / alleged cocaine deal

Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala

Matlala ran Medicare Tshwane District as a franchise of van Wyk's Medicare24 Holdings; their WhatsApp chats were led as an alleged 'get me a good price' cocaine deal. Untested; van Wyk denies wrongdoing and is presumed innocent.

View profile →

Zoom out

Related case files

Case file · Tender fraud

Medicare24 SAPS tender

A R360 million police medical tender, about R228 million paid, a web of alleged funders - and a central accused who pleaded guilty, then withdrew the deal and now heads to trial.

Read the case file →Case file · Drug seizures

Aeroton cocaine bust

A cocaine seizure from Brazil, routed through Durban to Gauteng, compromised at the scene with R55 million later unaccounted for - and a forensic trail pointing to an organised syndicate with insiders at the port. One of two cocaine cases the commission ties to the same trafficking pattern.

Read the case file →

Exhibits