Hearing record
Day 43
Witness: Julius Mkhwanazi
Suspended EMPD Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi - the metro police officer, not KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi - takes the stand to answer for a controversial deal between the EMPD and companies owned by Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala.
The day in brief
What you need to know
- Julius Mkhwanazi, suspended acting head of the EMPD, testified about his role in memoranda of understanding between the metro police and two companies owned by tender businessman Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala.
- The commission heard allegations that in 2021 he signed MOUs that allowed Matlala's private security vehicles to be registered as municipal assets, allegedly for Matlala's benefit.
- Mkhwanazi conceded a close working relationship with Matlala but denied the so-called blue-light saga, saying he never physically saw the vehicles at the centre of the scandal.
- He denied authorising any branding or municipal registration of the private fleet.
- This EMPD officer is a different person from Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KZN commissioner whose July 2025 allegations helped trigger the commission.
Full coverage
The day, in depth
Close ties admitted, wrongdoing denied
Mkhwanazi told the commission he had a close working relationship with Matlala while insisting he never authorised the registration or branding of Matlala's private security vehicles as EMPD assets. He said he never physically saw the cars said to be at the heart of the arrangement. The testimony followed days of evidence about how the EMPD-Matlala MOUs came to be signed.
Two men, one surname
Coverage stressed the distinction that matters for readers: this witness is Julius Mkhwanazi of the EMPD, not Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner whose allegations of political interference set the commission in motion. Conflating the two would badly distort the record.
Our analysis
The bottom line
The pattern reporters flagged - denials that soften into concessions - is the tension to track here. Mkhwanazi's admission of a close relationship with Matlala, paired with denials of the specific acts alleged, leaves the commission to weigh documents and bank records against recollection. Nothing at this stage is a finding of guilt; he is a witness answering allegations.
For our archive the naming discipline is itself load-bearing. Because a second, far more prominent Mkhwanazi is central to the commission, every reference to this witness must specify EMPD to avoid defaming either man by confusion.
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
Follow the threads
Who Julius Mkhwanazi connects to
Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi
Routinely confused with the KZN commissioner; Julius Mkhwanazi is the suspended EMPD deputy chief, an entirely different person.
View profile →WhatsApp counterpart in the blue-lights evidenceMichael van Wyk
Evidence led on 22 June 2026 placed Mkhwanazi as the EMPD official van Wyk messaged about blue and red lights, EMPD branding, a draft memorandum of understanding and 'appointment cards' for a specialised unit - including an exchange the evidence leaders read as a possible bribe. Both are presumed innocent.
View profile →Named as mastermind by herWitness K
Witness K, an anonymous JMPD VIP-unit inspector who said she had a romantic relationship with Mkhwanazi, testified on 23 June 2026 that he orchestrated the alleged Killarney precious-stones theft. Untested allegations; both are presumed innocent.
View profile →Blue-lights arrangementVusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala
Evidence tied Matlala's Cat VIP Protection to a draft EMPD memorandum and 'blue lights' arrangement alongside Mkhwanazi. Untested allegations.
View profile →In the room & on the record
Counsel, the panel and sources
On the panel
- Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga (chairperson)