By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi has told Parliament AD Hoc Committee he did not know murdered Madlanga Commission of Inquiry witness Marius van der Merwe, who implicated him in a cover-up.
Van der Merwe was shot dead in front of his family in what appeared to be a hit at his home in Brakpan, Gauteng, on 5 December.
The shooting occurred a day after Mkhwanazi concluded his testimony at the commission on 4 December.
Mkhwanazi said he learned of van der Merwe’s death while reading a newspaper at the airport, describing the news as “very disturbing and hurting”.
“When the flight was delayed, I decided to read a newspaper, “he said, adding that he didn’t entertain social media.
He told the committee that the article linked the killing to van der Merwe’s testimony and alleged that he was being portrayed as a criminal.
He asked the committee to read van der Merwe’s statement submitted to the Madlanga commission.
“I don’t know Witness D and he even said in his statement that he doesn’t know me,” Mkhwanazi said.
“I started to know Witness D after his murder, but I don’t know him physically. I never saw him,” the EMPD deputy chief continued.
He therefore hinted that Van Der Merwe had been involved in criminality, similar to the cover-up allegations that the latter previously made against him.
“My family, my kids, and I… this thing has disturbed them,” Mkhwanazi said.
He said that he was “seen as the killer police”, but he had “not even been part of that operation”, in which Van Der Merwe had implicated him.
Mkhwanazi told the committee that the association of his name with van der Merwe’s death had deeply “disturbed” his family.
He further claimed that his attorney had recently been shot, which heightened his concerns.
While Mkhwanazi distanced himself from Witness D’s allegations in his testimony before the ad hoc committee on Thursday, he readily admitted to his relationship with organised crime accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
He told ad hoc committee chair Soviet Lekganyane that Matlala gave him between R11,000 and R13,000 for the bull, but he later said it was “20 or 22”, presumably thousands of rands, that Matlala had given.
Mkhwanazi also acknowledged that he had received money from Matlala for family funerals, but had not disclosed this.
He conceded during the ad hoc proceedings that this did not align with principles, and he may have done something wrong.
DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach pushed him on this aspect, saying he had been aware at the time that accepting the money and not disclosing it was incorrect.
She also put it to Mkhwanazi that he had “trouble recognising a conflict of interest”.
He said he no longer considered Matlala a friend and that communication between them had disintegrated.
Matlala is central to the overall law enforcement scandal that hinges on the drug cartel infiltration accusations.
He was arrested in May 2025 and is now in custody, facing charges that include attempted murder.
Matlala has also been accused of being a member of the Big Five, but has not been criminally charged in connection with this.
The suspended metro police chief was appointed to the position of EMPD deputy municipal commissioner of operations and specialised services in December 2023.
In October last year, while acting as metro police chief, he took special leave to allow the city council to investigate accusations against him that had surfaced in the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
Some of his testimony on Thursday focused on Mike van Wyk, the director of a private clinic in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni – Medicare 24 – who offered free health services to metro police members.
Mkhwanazi met Van Wyk in late 2020, and his affidavit to the committee said: “This was due to the Covid-19 virus outbreak, and members of the EMPD saw a need for these required services from Medicare 24.
“A number of the Metro police were infected and affected by Covid-19 virus and some of whom did not have medical insurance, and therefore could not access private health care assistance.”
Van Wyk was willing to provide free testing to officers who did not have medical aid.
Mkhwanazi testified that Van Wyk offered other services, including the use of a helicopter ambulance, and became involved in photocopying past exam papers for metro police cadets at no cost to the city.