Officer, K9 unit, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department · Johannesburg
Testified
The JMPD K9 sergeant who played the commission CCTV footage of a child being abducted and told it he recognised two of the men in it as officers on his own shift. Sergeant Rico van Wyk gave evidence on the afternoon of Day 173, 15 September 2026, in the commission's first sitting devoted to the Johannesburg metro police. The footage showed the kidnapping of a child in Johannesburg in 2021, an abduction for which, on his evidence, R5 million was extorted from the child's father by other suspects. Per Eyewitness News, van Wyk told the panel: 'Upon viewing the video, I identified two of the individuals depicted therein as Officers Johannes Mokgatle and Zwelibanzi Mgujulwa, both of whom were assigned to my shift.' He said he put the video to both men and asked whether it was a police operation, that neither denied being in it, and that neither offered any explanation. He also described trying to trace a vehicle through a fleet-tracking company and being told by an employee, since deceased, that there was no data on it. Chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga supplied the alternative from the chair - 'I wanted to say another possibility is that she did not tell you the truth' - and van Wyk answered, 'Possibility is there, Commissioner.' His evidence is an identification and an account of two conversations, not proof of anyone's involvement. Nothing has been tested and both officers he named are presumed innocent.
Rico van Wykvan WykJMPDK9 unitJohannes MokgatleMadlanga Commission
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.
Awaiting appearanceNo portrait on the public record yet
Key disclosures
Evidence and allegations
The 2021 abduction, and the R5 million
CCTV of a child being taken in Johannesburg, played to the commission on Day 173.
Per Eyewitness News, van Wyk brought to the commission CCTV footage showing the kidnapping of a child in Johannesburg in 2021. His evidence is that R5 million was extorted over the abduction and that the money was collected from the child's father by other suspects. The footage itself is the exhibit; what it establishes about any individual has not been determined by any court.
Recognising two officers from his own shift
He named Johannes Mokgatle and Zwelibanzi Mgujulwa, and said neither denied being in the video.
Van Wyk's account, per Eyewitness News: 'Upon viewing the video, I identified two of the individuals depicted therein as Officers Johannes Mokgatle and Zwelibanzi Mgujulwa, both of whom were assigned to my shift. I immediately questioned them about the video and sought to establish whether they had been involved in a police operation. Neither officer denied being depicted in the video; however, they remained silent and did not provide any explanation regarding their presence or involvement in the incident depicted in the video.' What he describes is a recognition and a silence, not an admission. Identification from video is contestable evidence and silence to a colleague carries no legal weight. Neither officer has been convicted of anything arising from it and both are presumed innocent.
The tracking data he could not get
A fleet-tracking employee, since deceased, told him there was nothing on the vehicle.
Per Eyewitness News, van Wyk described approaching a fleet-tracking company to establish a vehicle's movements and being told there was nothing to give him: 'And her feedback was, the unit is not responding, there is no data on the vehicle, the movement of the vehicle.' Advocate Thabang Pooe noted that the same service provider had supplied information to the commission. Justice Madlanga put the other reading: 'I wanted to say another possibility is that she did not tell you the truth.' Van Wyk answered: 'Possibility is there, Commissioner.' The employee has since died and cannot answer the suggestion; no finding has been made about her conduct.
Timeline
How the account unfolded
2021
The abduction
On van Wyk's evidence, a child is kidnapped in Johannesburg and R5 million is extorted from the child's father by other suspects. CCTV of the incident was played to the commission five years later.
15 Sep 2026
Testifies on Day 173
Van Wyk takes the stand as a new witness in the afternoon, plays the CCTV footage, and identifies two officers from his own shift in it.
“Upon viewing the video, I identified two of the individuals depicted therein as Officers Johannes Mokgatle and Zwelibanzi Mgujulwa, both of whom were assigned to my shift.”
Sergeant Rico van Wyk to the Madlanga Commission on Day 173, 15 September 2026, per Eyewitness News. An identification, not a finding; both officers named are presumed innocent.