‘Cat’ Matlala ID saga: Home Affairs official dismissed

MBABANE – Nonhlanhla Malambe, the Home Affairs official found guilty over the issuance of Eswatini national documents to Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala, has been dismissed from the public service with immediate effect.

Matlala is a South African businessman who has been described in media reports as an alleged underworld kingpin and criminal cartel figure, and has been linked to investigations involving alleged organised crime, police corruption and attempted murder.

Malambe’s case was among those pursued as part of a crackdown on corruption and maladministration initiated under the late Minister for Home Affairs, Princess Lindiwe.

The ministry referred officers implicated in the alleged fraudulent issuance of national documents to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) for disciplinary action.

Malambe, the former Assistant Regional Civil Registrar, had her services terminated after the CSC ruled that her misconduct had irretrievably damaged the employment relationship.

The Simanga Mamba-led commission found that her length of service, clean disciplinary record and expression of remorse did not outweigh the seriousness of the offence.

In its decision, the commission described the fraudulent processing of birth certificates and national identity documents as corruption and a threat to national security, rather than a mere procedural irregularity.

It said Malambe’s conduct undermined the integrity and sovereignty of the country’s national documents and brought the kingdom into disrepute.

Malambe was found guilty of dishonesty, in contravention of Section 49(g) of the Public Service Act, 2018, on July 27, 2026. The disciplinary case concerned the processing of an Eswatini birth certificate and national identity card for a foreign national recorded as Vusimuzi Dlamini, the name linked to Matlala.

The first charge related to the registration and issuance of a birth certificate on February 12, 2024. Malambe was found to have wrongfully entered Thembi Christinah Zulu as Dlamini’s mother, although she was not his mother. The document was processed without the required source documents.

The second charge concerned the issuance of a national identity card to Dlamini on February 20, 2024, also without the requisite source documents and in contravention of established procedures.

The commission said national civil registration records underpin identity and security. Birth certificates can be used in processes involving voting, access to social benefits and movement across borders.

After finding Malambe guilty, the commission directed her to submit mitigating factors before determining the appropriate sanction.

In her submissions, Malambe acknowledged the seriousness of the misconduct and the public trust attached to civil registration. She accepted that the irregular processing of the documents had compromised the integrity of the national civil registration system and exposed Eswatini to security and diplomatic risks.

Although she had pleaded not guilty to the disciplinary charges, she admitted that she had registered the birth certificate and issued the identity card without following the prescribed late-registration procedure. She accepted responsibility for her conduct.

Malambe asked the commission to impose a severe corrective sanction short of dismissal. She submitted that she was a first offender, had a clean disciplinary record and had served government for more than 20 years.

She also told the commission that eight family members, including her children, depended on her for maintenance.

Explaining her remorse, Malambe said she regretted not only the prospect of losing her employment but also the misuse of a trusted public function, the security and diplomatic risks to the State and the damage to public confidence.

The commission said it had considered the mitigating factors and the principle of proportionality. However, it concluded that they could not outweigh the seriousness of the misconduct.

It stated that dishonesty went to the root of the employment relationship, particularly where an officer held a position of trust involving national identity documents.

The CSC acknowledged the hardship that dismissal would cause Malambe and her dependants. Nevertheless, it held that personal circumstances could not override the need to protect the integrity of the national civil registry.

It also stated that a clean disciplinary record could not be used as a licence to commit fraud and that retaining Malambe would send the wrong message to other public officers.

The commission concluded that trust had been destroyed and that a lesser sanction would not be appropriate, given the nature of the misconduct and the public interest involved. It consequently ordered her dismissal from the public service with immediate effect.

The case followed an investigation by this publication, which first reported on July 22, 2025, that Matlala appeared to possess an Eswatini national identity card under the name Vusimuzi Dlamini.

The newspaper reported that the civil registry listed a person with attributes matching Matlala as a resident of Motshane. The records associated the person with a local woman’s particulars, raising questions about the claimed parentage.

Evidence presented during the disciplinary proceedings indicated that the transaction had been processed through user account X1003, which was assigned to Malambe.

The commission also found that the birth certificate had been processed as though it were a replacement for an earlier document, creating the impression that the birth had previously been registered. It described the method as an attempt to defeat an audit trail and said the conduct went beyond an administrative blunder.

The commission questioned whether the irregularity would have been detected through routine internal audits had Matlala’s arrest and the INTERPOL enquiry not brought the document to the attention of the authorities.

The decision also raised wider concerns about the civil registration system.

The commission questioned how many other foreign nationals might possess Eswatini birth certificates and identity cards obtained through irregular processes. It said it had dealt with several cases involving the fraudulent issuance of national documents in recent months, suggesting problems with the systems and procedures governing their issuance.

It specifically asked the minister for Home Affairs and the ministry’s principal secretary to take note of its observations.

The commission said compromising the civil registration system, which forms the foundation of national identity and security, could not be tolerated.

Malambe’s dismissal is an employment decision arising from the disciplinary proceedings. It does not, in itself, determine the outcome of her separate criminal case.

She is currently facing 17 criminal counts before the Mbabane Magistrates Court and has pleaded not guilty to all of them.

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