In a week where President Cyril Ramaphosa insisted on rooting out corruption within the police through implementing recommendations from the Madlanga Commission, Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) dominated the hearings. 

The EMPD had featured prominently in the allegation of criminal syndicates infiltrating law enforcement, intelligence, and justice systems, which the Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga-led commission is investigating. 

The commission heard this week how corrupt some EMPD officers were, as two of them were on Friday accused of illegal impounding of a truck, which they later stripped off some of its parts while goods worth over R1 million disappeared at their hands. 

This was the evidence of Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) assistant director Thulani Magagula who told the commission that he was investigating the two officers who impounded the truck and kept it at the EMPD pound without booking it in.

The truck, which belonged to a Malawian man who operated a transport business, was meant to transport the goods from Putfontein to Mpumalanga on February 8, 2023.

However, the two officers intercepted it and took it to the pound without informing its owner, who could not trace its whereabouts for several days because its tracker system had been disconnected.

When he finally found it days later, some of its internal parts had been removed and diesel drained out. 

The police had told the truck owner that the goods that were in the truck had been stolen from a resident of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

They later said the goods were returned to its owner, but Magagula said the police failed to produce proof of handing over and the place where they were delivered.

Magagula promised that he would complete the investigation, which had been stagnated due to witnesses refusing to cooperate with him in fear of being victimised, or even killed by police officers. 

“Currently, he (complainant) is afraid, as when I communicate with him, he says he is afraid of the police.

“He would say, ‘You know the police would kill me, and I don’t want to be in that position,” said Magagula.

Magagula also revealed that EMPD kept some of its officers on duty while they were facing serious charges such as rape.

One of them, who he identified as officer Adam Cummings continued to report for duty throughout his criminal trial for raping two young girls. 

Magagula said the second officer was also faced a case of raping a child known to him.

Both officers were only dismissed after being convicted and sentenced, with Cummings receiving multiple life sentences.

After studying an interim report, which he received from Judge Madlanga on December 17, Ramaphosa issued a statement on January 29 containing the names of nine EMPD officers and a senior official with prima facie evidence to be subjected to a special investigations task team, which he said acting Police minister Professor Firoz Cachalia, and National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola will establish to conduct criminal investigations. 

Delivering the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday evening, Ramaphosa commended the Commission for exposing rampant corruption in the South African Police Service (SAPS) and some metro police departments who abused their power.

“We cannot tolerate this. The rule of law depends on a police service that is ethical, responsive and rooted in the communities that it serves,” said Ramaphosa.

One of those who the task team will investigate is Ekurhuleni municipality’s suspended head of Legal, Advocate Kemi Behari. 

During his appearance at the Commission, Behari admitted that he had lied under oath about sending a correspondence to Ipid regarding suspended EMPD acting chief Julius Mkhwanazi.

The Commission accused Behari of attempting to protect Mkhwanazi from being investigated by the Ipid. 

He had told the Commission that he formally notified Ipid about the extension of Mkhwanazi’s precautionary suspension.

However, after evidence leader Advocate Lee Segeels-Ncube produced email records, it was evident that Behari never sent the correspondence to Ipid. Behari bowed down with the confession of lying, saying: “I accept that it was false.”

Another highlight of the Madlanga hearing this week was Behari mentioning television and radio personality, Sbu “DJ Sbu” Leope and former ANC Gauteng secretary Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza, alleging that they unduly benefitted from the Ekurhuleni municipality’s more than R100 million Grants-in-Aid. 

However, Leope, also an entrepreneur, has since refuted Behari’s allegation. 

“I categorically deny any involvement in wrongdoing, misconduct, or unethical activity of any kind,” Leope said.

Another Ipid senior investigator Nomsa Masuku also testified about the murder of  Emmanuel Mbense from Brakpan whose body was found dumped in Spaarwater Dam on April 15, 2025. 

Before being shot execution style in what was believe to be silencing him from spilling more beans about EMPD officers’ alleged dirty work, Marius “Vlam” van der Merwe, known as Witness D, confessed to the Commission about participating in concealing Mbense’s body in the dam. 

Masuku said she interviewed Van der Merwe, former EMPD reservist, regarding circumstances surrounding Mbense’s death. 

Masuku, who was investigating Mbense’s murder, told the Commission that Van der Merwe had warned her that police officers who were his co-accused in the Mbense matter were “very dangerous people”.  

 bongani.hans@inl.co.za 

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