The Madlanga Commission resumes on Wednesday with suspended acting Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) chief Julius Mkhwanazi set to testify, just a day after suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu faced hours of questioning.
A live stream of proceedings is embedded in this article.
Mkhwanazi has been summoned to answer for a series of deals he allegedly struck between the EMPD and two companies owned by tender tycoon Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, as well as claims that senior officials shielded him from discipline.
Julius Mkhwanazi before the Madlanga Commission
Mkhwanazi is accused of signing unlawful memorandums of understanding in 2021 that allowed Matlala’s private security vehicles to be registered as municipal cars for his personal use.
Previous witnesses have described him as “a law unto himself”, alleging he ran a rogue unit inside the EMPD and made major decisions without proper authority.
Former Ekurhuleni head of employee relations Xolani Nciza told the commission that disciplinary charges linked to the Matlala deal were halted in June 2023 and that senior management appeared “hellbent on protecting an employee, regardless of procedures of the municipality”.
Mkhwanazi was formally suspended by the City of Ekurhuleni in November.
How Senzo Mchunu set the stage at the Madlanga Commission
Mkhwanazi’s appearance follows a combative first day on the stand for Mchunu, who returned to the Madlanga Commission on Tuesday to defend his role in shutting down the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
Mchunu testified that a 2016 work-study report had already recommended that the PKTT be disestablished and its members absorbed into a strengthened murder and robbery unit, arguing the task team “was never intended to be a permanent unit”.
He rejected suggestions that he disbanded the structure by political diktat or under the influence of Matlala, insisting he had “never been accused of corruption, not once” in his career.
Earlier witnesses, including SAPS legal head Maj-Gen Petronella van Rooyen and KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, have painted a very different picture, alleging that the minister overstepped his powers and was “influenced” to scrap the PKTT in ways that benefited politically connected business interests.
What commissioners are likely to probe next
With Mchunu due back on Thursday, Mkhwanazi’s evidence is expected to focus on:
- How and why the Matlala MOUs were signed, and who authorised registering private security vehicles as municipal assets.
- Whether city manager Imogen Mashazi and other senior officials blocked or delayed disciplinary action against him.
- How his conduct and the EMPD deals fit into the broader allegations of political interference and abuse of police structures that triggered the inquiry.
Commission spokesperson Jeremy Michaels has previously confirmed that this is the inquiry’s final week of public hearings for 2025, with an interim report due to President Cyril Ramaphosa by 17 December.
Readers can follow Wednesday’s proceedings via the live stream below:
