Madlanga CommissionLatest day

Hearing record

Day 32

Concluding two days of evidence, Nciza describes the City of Ekurhuleni as 'rooted in corruption, irregularities and no regard for the law', alleges officials were rewarded for compliance, and confirms he was dismissed in 2023 after pursuing action against Mkhwanazi.

Official transcript (PDF) ↗All hearing days
Still from Day 32 of the Madlanga Commission

The day in brief

What you need to know

  • Day 32 (13 November 2025) closes Nciza's testimony with a sweeping characterisation of the metro as institutionally corrupt.
  • Nciza alleged that despite grave corruption and tender-irregularity claims, the municipality never commissioned a forensic investigation.
  • He told the commission two officials, Linda Gasheka and Advocate Kemi Behari, later received salary increases of about R600,000 each, which he called a 'token of appreciation' for aligning with Mashazi's directives, according to EWN.
  • Nciza accused Mkhwanazi of fraudulently arranging a deal between the EMPD and tender businessman Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala.
  • Nciza said he was dismissed from his post in 2023 after pursuing disciplinary action against Mkhwanazi.
  • The 'Cat' Matlala thread links the Ekurhuleni evidence to a figure already central to the commission's wider inquiry.
  • Every person named retains the presumption of innocence; these are Nciza's allegations, untested by a court.

Full coverage

The day, in depth

'Rooted in corruption'

EWN reported that Nciza told the commission the City of Ekurhuleni was rooted in corruption, irregularities and no regard for the law, and that despite serious allegations of tender irregularities the municipality had at no point commissioned a forensic investigation. He concluded his two-day appearance on 13 November 2025.

Rewards, a Matlala deal and a dismissal

According to EWN and Sowetan, Nciza alleged that officials who supported the city manager's directives were rewarded, naming Linda Gasheka and Advocate Kemi Behari as recipients of roughly R600,000 salary increases he described as a token of appreciation. He further accused Mkhwanazi of fraudulently striking a deal between the EMPD and tender tycoon Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, and said his own dismissal in 2023 followed his push to discipline Mkhwanazi.

In their words

Key moments from the record

“There is a point where there were such gross allegations made about corruption, tender irregularities, and all sorts of things. At no point whatsoever has the municipality commissioned a forensic investigation.”
No forensic investigation, Nciza tells the commission. Summing up why he believes the city's corruption went unchecked, Nciza told the commission the municipality never ordered a forensic probe despite the scale of the allegations.

Our analysis

The bottom line

Nciza's closing evidence tries to convert individual grievances into a systemic charge: a city where wrongdoing is not investigated, where compliance is rewarded and where the whistle-blower, on his account, is the one who loses his job. The absence of a forensic investigation, if borne out, would be a telling institutional failure, because it is precisely the mechanism that should have tested the very allegations he is now airing before the commission.

The appearance of Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala is the most consequential thread for the commission's larger map. Matlala already features in the inquiry's evidence about tenders and law-enforcement links, and an alleged EMPD deal would extend that reach into municipal policing. The commission will need documentary proof to move from allegation to finding. Gasheka, Behari, Mkhwanazi, Mashazi and Matlala are all presumed innocent, and Nciza's characterisation is fair comment on evidence he gave, not a verdict.

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.

In the room & on the record

Counsel, the panel and sources

On the panel

  • Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)

Sources

← Earlier in timeDay 3112 November 2025More recent →Day 3314 November 2025