Suspended EMPD acting chief, commissioner Julius Mkhwanazi.
Image: Armand Hough | Independent Newspaper
EKURHULENI Metro Police acting chief Lieutenant General Julius Mkhwanazi has repeatedly stepped into the spotlight over the past year, not only for the alleged corruption and blue‑light scandals engulfing the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) but also for his own words — recorded in public, under oath, and on official video. Those words now form the most incriminating trail of evidence against him.
At the heart of the Madlanga Commission’s inquiry into the EMPD is a video clip from what was meant to be a routine Christmas‑party gathering of senior municipal officials and police leaders. In that footage, Mkhwanazi is seen pledging absolute loyalty to then‑City Manager Dr Imogen Mashazi.
According to coverage by Eyewitness News (EWN), Mkhwanazi says on camera: “We will die for you. Mina, I will take a bullet for you.”
Moments later, he hammers the point further: “I will die for you because you are my mother… you have not only secured my continued employment within the municipality, but you’ve also advanced me against all odds, against all processes of the municipality.”
Those lines, once an awkward party moment, have since become a powerful symbol of patronage and protection — a senior metro‑police commander openly crediting his rise to a single political figure, while admitting that his advancement ran counter to formal municipal procedures.
The commission presented the video as evidence that Mkhwanazi and Mashazi were bound by a mutual loyalty pact, with the then‑city manager shielding him from disciplinary and criminal probes.
While the “bullet” line lays bare the emotional side of the relationship, another of Mkhwanazi’s statements exposes the legal and procedural fault lines. Speaking before the Madlanga Commission, he conceded that he never had the proper mandate for a key security deal linked to the blue‑light saga.
ENCA and SABC coverage of the live testimony records him saying: “I was not authorised to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Matlala’s company, Cat VIP Security.”
That line is devastating in context. It is not only an admission that Mkhwanazi entered into a controversial agreement with a security outfit tied to alleged crime‑cartel figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, but that he did so without the formal authority the municipality required
For investigators and opposition parties, it crystallises the argument that the EMPD’s blue‑light arrangement was politically driven, procedurally flawed, and legally vulnerable.
In earlier testimony before ad‑hoc parliamentary hearings examining the KwaZulu‑Natal Provincial Task Team (PKTT) and broader intelligence conduct, Mkhwanazi framed himself as a whistleblower against “rogue elements” within the state. Yet his own words sometimes revealed how deeply he was embedded in the same system.
Mkhwanazi was arrested by the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Madlanga Task Team. Police confirmed on Saturday that a 50-year-old senior municipal official has been arrested in Gauteng as part of an ongoing corruption probe linked to the EMPD.
The arrest was carried out by the SAPS Madlanga Task Team at the suspect’s home earlier on Saturday morning. The official is facing charges of fraud, corruption, and defeating and/or obstructing the ends of justice.
“The SAPS Madlanga Task Team has arrested a 50-year-old senior municipal official for fraud, corruption and defeating and/or obstructing the ends of justice,” police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said.
Authorities indicated that the arrest was part of a broader investigation into alleged corruption within the EMPD, with more suspects potentially facing arrest.
“The Task Team is still searching for other suspects linked to the case,” Mathe said.
Police declined to provide further details on the allegations, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.
The arrest comes after Mkhwanazi faced sustained pressure at the Madlanga Commission this week, as his testimony unravelled under sharp questioning, exposing contradictions, missing records and serious allegations of criminal conduct inside a police unit.
“These arrests emanate from an ongoing investigation into corruption within the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD)," Mathe said. “No further comment will be provided on the merits of the case at this stage.”
The suspect is expected to appear before the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, April 20, 2026.