Julius Mkhwanazi has been arrested four times in 109 days. The suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department deputy chief now faces allegations spanning fraud, corruption, robbery and murder, and the residents of Ekurhuleni are left asking who is accountable for the salary still landing in his account each month.
For the people of Ekurhuleni, the human cost is not abstract. Mkhwanazi continues to draw a full taxpayer-funded salary while suspended, a fact that DA mayoral candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane called “simply unacceptable.” ActionSA mayoral candidate Xolani Khumalo put it plainly: residents have endured dysfunction and a culture of impunity for too long, and accountability must start at the top.
The cascade of legal trouble began on April 18, 2026, when police arrested Mkhwanazi at his home alongside Ekurhuleni city manager Kagiso Lerutla. The two faced fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice charges after allegedly paying R400,000 to a third party to impersonate Lerutla in court over a speeding ticket. Police also found Mkhwanazi in possession of an illegal firearm during that arrest. He was released on R30,000 bail.
The city had already suspended Mkhwanazi with effect from November 11, 2025, following recommendations from an internal audit investigation and serious allegations that emerged from the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. He had joined the EMPD in 2003 and climbed through the ranks to deputy chief before his suspension.
A second arrest followed on July 8, when Mkhwanazi and three co-accused were detained during a Recommendations Task Team operation in Johannesburg. His co-accused included former municipal manager Imogen Mashazi, former human resources head Linda Gxasheka, and Advocate Kemi Behari, former head of Corporate Legal and Risk Services for the City of Ekurhuleni. The charges centred on allegations that Mkhwanazi facilitated an irregular agreement allowing police blue lights to be fitted to private luxury vehicles belonging to an alleged underworld crime boss. He was granted R50,000 bail, with conditions requiring him to surrender travel documents, report to Brooklyn police station every Friday between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m., and avoid contact with certain city employees.
Nine days later, on July 17, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate arrested him again, this time in connection with the alleged theft of nearly R15 million worth of precious stones from a Johannesburg property in 2023. Mkhwanazi is accused of orchestrating a bogus police raid at a Killarney apartment to steal high-grade sugilite and manganese stones valued at R14.9 million. His former girlfriend, a Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department inspector attached to the VIP Protection Unit and identified before the Madlanga Commission as Witness K, testified that he orchestrated the scheme. Mkhwanazi has denied the allegations. He was granted R5,000 bail on July 21. EMPD officer Adrian Mackenzie and former EMPD officer Keisha-Leigh Stols, who allegedly told investigators they acted on Mkhwanazi’s instructions, also face robbery with aggravating circumstances and fraud charges and were each granted R5,000 bail.
Then came the murder charge. Mkhwanazi and four co-accused appeared in the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court in connection with the alleged killing of Emmanuel Mbense. Alongside Mkhwanazi, 50, stood businessman Cobus Janse van Rensburg, 42; former EMPD official Adrian Norman Mackenzie, 43; and former SAPS officers Bhekokwakhe Sibande, 36, and Keisha-Leigh Stols, 40. According to the National Prosecuting Authority and IPID, the five allegedly assaulted and killed Mbense at his Brakpan home on April 14, 2022, after suspecting him of stealing copper from a warehouse. They allegedly robbed him of property and about R500,000 in cash before dumping his body at Spaarwater Dam. The State opposed bail, citing a Schedule 6 murder charge that requires accused persons to demonstrate exceptional circumstances before bail may be granted. The matter was postponed to August 13 to allow the State to consider several applications filed by some of the accused’s legal representatives.
The alleged killing featured prominently before the Madlanga Commission, where evidence was led about an alleged cover-up. The late Marius van der Merwe, owner of a security company who testified before the commission as Witness D, alleged Mkhwanazi was called to the scene after Mbense was killed and instructed those present to dispose of the body at a mine dump or in a river. Van der Merwe was shot dead outside his Brakpan home on December 5, 2025, weeks after giving that evidence.
Meanwhile, opposition parties in Ekurhuleni have sharpened their demands. The Democratic Alliance questioned how many more arrests would be required before Mayor Nkosindiphinde Xhakaza acts and tables a motion to dismiss Mkhwanazi. Rasilingwane characterized the repeated arrests as reflecting a pattern of alleged criminal conduct rather than isolated incidents. Khumalo, for his part, called on city manager Lerutla to terminate Mkhwanazi’s employment immediately, arguing that senior officials are entrusted with serving the public and must uphold the highest standards of conduct and integrity expected by Ekurhuleni’s residents.
The matter returns to court on August 13. Whether the city acts before then, or waits for a fifth arrest, is the question residents are now living with.