Witness
Suspended Deputy Chief, Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) · Ekurhuleni · Gauteng
Testified · charged, out on bail
The suspended Deputy Chief of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD), who testified before the Madlanga Commission on procurement and a 'blue lights' emergency-equipment scandal linked to alleged cartel figure Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala. He is NOT Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner whose July 2025 allegations triggered this commission - they share a surname only. On 9 July 2026 he was granted R50,000 bail in the Germiston Magistrate's Court as one of the 'Ekurhuleni Four' officials charged with corruption over the alleged shielding of his blue-lights conduct and irregular salary adjustments. All matters below are allegations or contested testimony; he denies wrongdoing and is presumed innocent.
This profile summarises testimony and evidence given on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as presented at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person.
Their role
Reports alleged Mkhwanazi authorised the installation of emergency 'blue lights' on vehicles linked to Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala. He has denied that any privately owned vehicle was fitted with blue lights or deployed under EMPD authority, calling the matter an 'oversight, not corruption.'
He conceded to the commission that he was not authorised to enter a memorandum of understanding with Matlala's firm; officials separately alleged forged memoranda created unofficial relationships between the EMPD and companies linked to Matlala. The forgery claim is an allegation.
Suspended EMPD chief Isaac Mapiyeye alleged Mkhwanazi pushed through more than 50 senior appointments in roughly three months without proper vetting. Mkhwanazi countered that the allegations stemmed from a 'succession battle.' Both accounts are disputed.
On 23 June 2026 an anonymous JMPD VIP-unit inspector who testified as 'Witness K' - and who said she had been in a romantic relationship with Mkhwanazi - told the commission he masterminded the theft of sugilite stones worth about R14.9 million from a flat in Killarney, Johannesburg on 11 February 2023, staged as a lawful police search-and-seizure outside the EMPD's jurisdiction. She said EMPD officers Kershia-Leigh Stols and Aiden McKenzie and a civilian, Andy van der Walt, carried it out, that the stones were sold for about R110,000 and that each participant received roughly R22,000. These are untested allegations he has not yet answered; he is presumed innocent.
Mkhwanazi returned to the commission on 24 June 2026 to answer Witness K's evidence. He requested time to consult his legal team and declined to respond to the precious-stones claims, saying he had been preparing for his disciplinary hearing and had not studied her transcripts. He insisted the Killarney operation was a legitimate joint EMPD/JMPD police seizure, not a theft, and put it to the commission that Witness K had planned and executed it. The commission challenged a contradiction: in his 15 April 2026 testimony he had denied knowing Witness K, but on 24 June he confirmed he knows her. Commissioner Sandile Khumalo told him, 'Either you were not truthful then, or you are not truthful now... the question was very clear.' His account is contested and untested; he denies wrongdoing and is presumed innocent.
The commission questioned aspects of his account, and on 18 April 2026 the SAPS Madlanga Commission task team arrested him on charges of fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice; he was granted bail. The charges are untested and he is presumed innocent.
On 9 July 2026 Mkhwanazi was granted R50,000 bail in the Germiston Magistrate's Court as one of four Ekurhuleni officials - alongside former city manager Dr Imogen Mashazi, suspended head of legal Advocate Kemi Behari and former HR head Linda Gxasheka - facing charges of corruption, fraud and defeating the ends of justice. The state alleges senior City of Ekurhuleni officials shielded Mkhwanazi from disciplinary action after he allegedly fitted police 'blue lights' to private luxury vehicles owned by Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala, and that Mkhwanazi received an irregular salary adjustment of about R1.7 million on his appointment as EMPD deputy chief (with Behari and Gxasheka alleged to have benefited from about R1.3 million in unlawful increases). The matter was postponed to 28 August 2026 for further investigation. The charges are untested and all four are presumed innocent.
On the stand
On the record
Connections
KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner
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 evidenceChief Executive, Medicare24 Holdings
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 herInspector, VIP Protection Unit, Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD)
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 arrangementBusinessman; alleged 'Big Five' cartel figure
Evidence tied Matlala's Cat VIP Protection to a draft EMPD memorandum and 'blue lights' arrangement alongside Mkhwanazi. Untested allegations.
View profile →Exhibits
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