Suspended Ekurhuleni head of legal Adv Kemi Behari told the Madlanga commission that allegations that he received a R600,000 salary increase to protect a senior cop were shocking and unfounded.
Previous witnesses have testified that Behari was bribed to protect Julius Mkhwanazi, the deputy head of the city’s police, from disciplinary hearings over the blue lights saga.
Here are five issues that Behari gave evidence about on Monday
- He admitted that the allegations against Mkhwanazi were enough to discipline him.
- He implicated the city’s suspended police chief, Jabulani Mapiyeye, in the March 2022 incident when Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala’s security detail protected city officials at a 2022 state of the city address under Mkhwanazi’s instruction. Behari said Mapiyeye failed to do “due diligence”.
- He admitted that he told former municipal manager Imogen Mashazi that the case against Mkhwanazi was “not good”.
- He said the allegations against him that he protected Mkhwanazi against a disciplinary hearing were unfounded, as it was a matter for the human resources department, not his office.
- He accused the ANC of interfering with Ekurhuleni police matters and told the commission he was pressurised to settle in the matter of former employee relations head Xolani Nciza and Mapiyeye by city manager Kagiso Lerutla.
Sowetan
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