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Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi testifying at the Madlanga Commission last year.
The murder of Brakpan businessman, Emmanuel Mbense, took centre stage at the Madlanga Commission on Wednesday. Allegedly, Mbense was killed in April 2022 by law enforcement members in Brakpan, Ekurhuleni.
The Brakpan businessman was also allegedly tortured, and his death was a result of blunt head trauma.
Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) Deputy Chief Commissioner, Julius Mkhwanazi, was questioned about his alleged involvement in Mbense’s murder.
Testimony before the Madlanga Commission claims Commissioner Julius Mkhwanazi was called to help clean up the murder scene.
Mkhwanazi denies any involvement, but says police informant, Jaco Hanekom, called him at 2am, claiming it was a police operation to recover a truck carrying goods.
Mkhwanazi further testified that he was not certain about the involvement of the EMPD in the operation.
However, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga questioned why Mkhwanazi would respond to Hanekom’s call in the early hours without confirming if the EMPD was involved.
Mkhwanazi: You do not ask who’s there. You just up and go. Do you want us to believe that?
Mkhwanazi: I did that many times, Commissioner. I won’t lie to you.
Madlanga: You just up and go. No facts, it could have turned out to be nothing. A damp, it could have turned out to be a damp squib. You just up and go at 2 a.m. And you want us to believe that?
VIDEO| Madlanga Commission of Inquiry proceedings on 15 April 2026:
The deceased Witness D, Marius van der Merwe, previously placed Mkhwanazi at Mbense’s murder scene. Evidence before the Madlanga Commission also revealed that other EMPD members including Aiden McKenzie and Kersha Lee Stols were also present at the scene.
Despite that, Mkhwanazi denied seeing them on his arrival at the scene.
However, Commissioner Sesi Baloyi put it to Mkhwanazi that he was not being truthful about why he went to the crime scene.
Baloyi: When you arrive at the scene and you see the EMPD vehicles, you are the director, so you are the head of specialised services and operations. You are the most senior EMPD person on the scene, therefore. Right? You are the most senior person from EMPD because you are the director of that unit. You get there. You find EMPD vehicles. How do you not, how possible is it that you do not ask who is here from the EMPD when you see your vehicle on the spot?
It has also emerged that police informant, Jaco Hanekom, deposited close to R100,000 into Mkwanazi’s bank account.
Even as Mkhwanazi claimed the money was from an investment he made in Hanekom’s business, evidence leader Advocate Mahlape Sello put it to him that the money was the proceeds of truck hijackings.
The claim before the Commission is that Mkhwanazi, Hanekom, Aiden McKenzie and Kersha Lee Stols were part of a coordinated truck hijacking syndicate.
Sello: My next suggestion to you that is because the four of you, amongst others, were involved in this hijacking racket in the Ekurhuleni area in the (East Rand)…
Mkhwanazi: If I may, are you saying I’m part of the hijackings?
Sello: I say you are part of that racket, yes.
Mkhwanazi: No, I don’t participate in those things, and I deny what Commissioner Revo Spies said about that.
Mkhwanazi testified that the corruption allegations against him not only changed his life, but affected his children as well.
He returns to the commission on Thursday.
