Three EMPD officers have been accused of murder, theft, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice but continued to be employed.
Further revelations of a rot within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) have been entered into evidence at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
Suspended EMPD chief Jabulani Mapiyeye was before the commission for the second day on Friday where he delved further into accusations against his former deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi.
As well as additional information on his professional disagreements with the Ekurhuleni city manager and his deputy, he detailed alarming internal affairs matters.
Officers reassigned
The commission referred to the catalyst for the allegations against Mkhwanazi as the ‘blue light saga’, but Mapiyeye had several other issues with his deputy.
Mapiyiye had performance contracts with senior officers but has not seen a performance report from Mkhwanazi for roughly a year before he was suspended.
For a year prior, Mkhwanazi had been in charge of a specialised unit known as ‘SWAT’ which was implicated in several serious crimes.
At least nine investigations were ongoing at the time of Mapiyeye’s suspension, but five cases featured three specific EMPD officers.
The charges ranged from murder and kidnapping to theft and defeating the ends of justice, but none had been criminally charged as of September 2024 when Mapiyeye was suspended.
“The disciplinary processes initiated against these members were continuously frustrated internally, and they were reassigned to their substantive positions and their service weapons restored to them,” said Mapiyeye.
EMPD does not have the power to investigate criminal matters, but has internal affairs to investigate officer misconduct.
EMPD officer allegedly hijacked truck
Mapiyeye on Friday told the commissioner that one of the officers had left the EMPD, while two were “back in the system”.
The five cases against the three officers all came to light during investigations into Mkhwanazi following the blue light saga.
The first of the cases related to a 2022 incident where they were accused of raiding a supermarket, after which they kidnapped the owner and confiscated 29 boxes of cigarettes from his store.
However, only one box of cigarettes was handed in to the Benoni Police Station.
The trio were also accused of being involved in the murder of a man in Brakpan in April 2022 after police retrieved a body dumped in Nigel.
The same three officers were accused of robbing a complainant in Meyerton in August 2022, with two of the officers later accused of hijacking a truck on the N12 and stealing its load.
In the last of the five incidents, the officers were accused in March 2023 of stealing undisclosed precious stones and impersonating Hawks officials in an incident in Killarney.
Mapiyeye told to drop charges
Mapiyeye raised the matters with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, and in April 2023, he was given approval for a tribunal into matters relating to SWAT and Mkhwanazi.
Charges against Mkhwanazi ranged from failure to perform diligently, gross dishonesty, gross negligence and bringing the EMPD into disrepute.
Recommendations were made that a disciplinary hearing for Mkhwanazi be held with three months of the charges having been confirmed, but the process stalled.
Mapiyeye told the commission that the charges and allegations against Mkhwanazi were not procedurally presented to the accused, forcing a postponement.
On appeal, EMPD human resources reinstated the suspended Mkhwanazi, after which he was redeployed to the EMPD by-law enforcement unit until the disciplinary matter was revisited.
As of September 2024, the disciplinary matter had not been revisited, and Mapiyeye described the redeployment as “undesirable”.
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Prior to his suspension, Mapiyeye said Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi instructed him to withdraw the charges against Mkhwanazi.
“Because of the pressure and the harassment I was getting with regard to this case specifically, I felt it was appropriate for me to also partially show that I am listening to that instruction,” he said.
Mapiyeye was suspended via council resolution, but he claims he has not received proof of this resolution.
“I’ve never seen a council resolution which stated I must be suspended. We have requested it; it was never provided to us,” he stated.
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