It is now surely a matter of time before Julius Mkhwanazi, the suspended Ekurhuleni metro deputy chief of police, is arrested and charged for corruption.
By his own admission during testimony at the Madlanga commission of inquiry, Mkhwanazi facilitated without authority the registration of vehicles belonging to alleged cartel member Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala under the metro.
He further supported dodgy deals involving Matlala’s security company in metro police operations, including providing VIP security at the state of the city address.
Mkhwanazi was also the sole signatory in a memorandum of understanding supporting Matlala’s company to effectively be involved in crime combating operations and permitting them to use blue lights. Though Ekurhuleni metro police had no formal relationship with Cat Security Services, the company was involved in crime fighting operations under Mkhwanazi’s watch.
After initially denying that he had received any direct benefits from Matlala, Mkhwanazi was confronted by the commission with evidence of payments made to him including from Matlala’s Medicare24 company accounts.
He conceded that he had received amounts ranging from R200 to R20,000 from Matlala. “Sometimes he (Matlala) would give (me) money for petrol or other things. We used to talk a lot, and even the frustrations that I had, I used to share with him,” Mkhwanazi told the inquiry yesterday.
“We were very close; he was like a brother to me. When I was suspended, he used to give money for food.”
Following his confessions, evidence leader Adv Mahlape Sello told the commission that she would argue that Matlala’s payments to Mkhwanazi amounted to gratification. In terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, gratification, giving or receiving donations, money and gifts to improperly influence a person’s official duties constitute a corrupt act.
The commission has the evidence in its possession already proofing part of the payments made by Matlala to Mkhwanazi’s benefit. On the face of this evidence alone, including lying under oath before the commission, there ought to be sufficient ground for the NPA to take criminal steps against Mkhwanazi. The question is, how much longer will the authorities wait before acting on some of the evidence emerging from the Madlanga inquiry.
There is no legal basis to wait for the inquiry to conclude and make recommendations before action can be taken on the evidence coming from the commission.
A precedent was set in 2020 when Edwin Sodi was arrested soon after giving testimony about corruption in the asbestos deal to the State Capture Commission of Inquiry.
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