A female inspector from the Johannesburg Metro Police Department’s (JMPD) VIP unit has revealed alleged corruption and criminality within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) involving her former partner, suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi.
Testifying at the Madlanga commission of inquiry, the witness, identified as “Witness K”, successfully applied to testify in camera due to safety concerns. She told the commission her evidence focuses on a specific criminal incident already being ventilated by the inquiry, which implicates both Mkhwanazi and the broader EMPD law enforcement structure.
Acknowledging her own role in the incident, Witness K stated she wished to testify fully, provided her identity was protected. The commission granted her request.
“I have come forward because I want to acknowledge my role in what happened, and I want to give the commission information about the precious stones case,” Witness K said.
She told the commission she met Mkhwanazi in 2023 and they began dating later that year. While Mkhwanazi was serving as a director at the EMPD, he was suspended for reasons she claims she did not know at the time.
Two months into their relationship, Mkhwanazi began asking her for money.
“From there on, Mkhwanazi would regularly ask me to lend him money. His requests for financial assistance were very frequent, and despite promising to do so, he did not pay me back,” she said.
She explained that, as his girlfriend, she tried to assist him by buying groceries, contributing to his legal fees and helping pay his children’s school fees.
When she could no longer assist Mkhwanazi financially because her savings were depleted, he allegedly asked her to “keep her ear to the ground” and feed him information.
Witness K recalled a tip-off she had received six months earlier from an informant named “Jango Samuel” regarding the illegal possession of precious stones by an individual in Killarney. At the time, she could not act on the tip because she was no longer working in operations.
When she told Mkhwanazi about the informant, and that the informant needed someone to steal the stones from the owner, Mkhwanazi instructed her to re-establish contact, which she did.
The informant took her to the Killarney location where the stones were being kept, and she passed the details on to Mkhwanazi. The plan was for Mkhwanazi to deploy officers to verify that the stones were there, steal them and hand them over to the informant.
“Each of us had our roles to play,” Witness K said. “I had to co-ordinate with the informant, secure information regarding the whereabouts of the stones, and ensure that the informant was ready to receive them and make payment. Mr Mkhwanazi had to organise the officers who were going to go in and take the stones.”
In February 2023, while off duty, Witness K met Mkhwanazi at a Nando’s outlet in Randhart. There, she testified, he introduced her to officers Kesha Leigh Stols and Norman Mackenzie, both dressed in EMPD uniform, as well as a man in civilian clothing whom she now knows as Andy van der Walt.
She shared the informant’s intelligence with them, confirming that the informant was ready to pay. She noted that the group was fully aware of the plot to steal the stones.
After the meeting, the group went their separate ways. Officers Stols and Mackenzie, along with Van der Walt, allegedly headed to Killarney to retrieve the stones. Witness K went home, noting she did not know where Mkhwanazi went after the meeting.
During her testimony, Witness K was shown photographs of the Killarney flat where the stones were stored, which allegedly showed the three operatives at the scene. Another photograph showed the trio alongside a man in a red top, identified as the owner of the stones.
An hour after Witness K had returned home, officer Stols called her from the scene and put the owner of the stones on the line. Witness K asked the owner if he possessed the necessary permits for the stones, knowing full well that he did not. Another individual with expert knowledge of precious stone permits was also added to the call.
After the owner admitted to not having the legal documentation, the three operatives confiscated the stones, Witness K said.
They then went to the informant’s friend at his house where they negotiated a price to be paid in exchange for the stones. Mkhwanazi was not present at the meeting.
The amount agreed was R100,000. However, the informant expressed that he was not happy with the quality of the stones, alleging some were fake. He said he would talk to his boss and come back to them with an amount they were willing to pay. Despite this, on February 12 2023, she met with the informant who gave her R110,000 in cash.
After receiving the money, she called Mkhwanazi and they met with the other three and shared the money equally.
“I gave them R88,000 — for Mr Mkhwanazi, officers Stols and Mackenzie, as well as Mr Van der Walt.
“I kept R22,000 for myself.”
Soon after that, she said her relationship with Mkhwanazi ended and they stopped communicating.
The testimony continues.
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