A fleet of vehicles purportedly donated to the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) by CAT Security Protection Services linked to businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala lacked proper council approval to legitimise their existence.

The vehicles identified as a BMW X5, a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, a BMW 3-Series, and a VW Golf were, however, registered under the municipality and fitted with blue lights.

Xolani Nciza, former divisional head of employee relations at the City of Ekurhuleni, revealed shocking details during his testimony at the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday. 

Nciza implicated suspended EMPD acting chief Julius Mkhwanazi in the blue-light convoy scandal, alleging he facilitated vehicle registration through a fleet corporate proxy managed by Chris Steyn.

He testified that the donation was flawed as there was no legal agreement with the municipality, and it appeared to be a working relationship between Mkhwanazi and the donor.

He pointed out that the municipality has a gifts and donations policy, which requires scrutinising the donor before accepting a gift because the government would not want to align with “a person or entity that is questionable”.

He suggested Mkhwanazi should have compiled a report highlighting EMPD’s capacity issues, including vehicle shortages, personnel gaps, and skills deficiencies.

After assessing the capacity, Mkhwanazi should have submitted a report to EMPD’s senior management, requesting the council to provide resources to address the gaps, he said. 

“If this thing is done honestly you must submit a report, identify the gaps and all the challenges that you are facing and make recommendations on how to plug the gap. But the default position is that you ask the council to provide you with the capacity,” he said.

If funding was needed, the council would have requested assistance from the National Treasury, he said.

“It is worrisome that we would have a private (security) company saying that it has the intention of enhancing the state’s effort in crime-fighting and to assist in vehicle protection,” he said.

Nciza disputed the content of a letter written by Mkhwanazi, that there was an existing memorandum of understanding between CAT Security Protection Services and EMPD.

“This is grossly dishonest in my view to say that there is a memorandum when such does not exist,” he said.

He stated that without a media inquiry by a journalist regarding the status of the vehicles, Matlala’s cars would have remained registered under the EMPD.

He said the municipality derived no benefit from the donation because the vehicles in question continued to be used by the donor and were not handed over to the municipality.

He expressed concern about the two-month period the vehicles were in the municipality’s name, questioning their usage and potential transactions.

“But what we do know is that if these vehicles encountered any form of scrutiny by any law enforcement agencies – that law-enforcement agency would have probably said they are municipal vehicles and therefore let me back off,” he said.

In a letter read out by Nciza at the commission, Steyn stated that in December 2022, Mkhwanazi approached him regarding a vehicle donation to EMPD.

“I indicated to him that the licensing departments are closing for the December holidays and that he should come back in January 2023. In January 2023, I indicated to him that there must be a letter of donation from the donor to EMPD,” Steyn said in the letter.

Mkhwanazi brought the vehicle documents and registration papers to Steyn in January 2023.

“I gave the documents to my administration representative to register the vehicle as per donation to EMPD,” read Steyn’s letter. 

The letter further stated that Mkhwanazi notified Steyn in February 2023 that the donation had been cancelled, and that people would be sent to collect the documents to transfer ownership back to the donor.

Nciza described Steyn’s letter as “mind boggling”, saying he relied on the letter and the unsigned, unapproved memorandum.

Nciza’s testimony is still under way.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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