By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi and city manager Kagiso Lerutla will spend the long weekend behind bars after their bail judgment adjourned until Tuesday, 28 April 2026.
They made their third appearance in court on Friday following their arrest over the weekend.
The pair are accused of multiple charges relating to a 2019 incident where Mkhwanazi and Lerutla conspired to keep the latter’s identity off the criminal record system.
Bail arguments concluded with the State insisting their release would not be in the interest of justice.
The State also told the court that Lerutla was involved in a fatal traffic incident, where he is accused of crashing into another vehicle, resulting in the death of the driver.
The State claims he later paid a tow truck driver to dispose of the body.
Prosecutor Advocate Nceba Mtelwa argued that the extent to which the accused went to conceal their crimes demonstrates why they should remain in custody pending trial.
The docket for that case went missing, with the state currently in the process of reconstructing the docket.
Additionally, an affidavit deposed by the murdered Marius van der Merwe – Witness D – alleged that EMPD members and private security officers murdered a man April 2022 at the behest of Mkhwanazi.
The Magistrate Emmanuel Sethibe Magampa told the court that he got a call yesterday from a member of the “Madlanga Task Team” named Sergeant Zolile Sibisi.
The magistrate says the member asked if Magampa presided over the 2019 scheme involving an alleged R400,000 payment to hire a fake person to appear in court for a speeding case.
The magistrate said he couldn’t recollect or recall what had happened previously.
Magampa, who’s been in the criminal justice system for over 37 years, directed Sibisi to check records at the court and also communicate with the prosecutors in order to get answers.
Magampa further said he told Sibisi he’d place it on record during today’s bail hearing.
Sibisi allegedly said it was not necessary. The magistrate said it was ethically necessary and proceeded to place that on record during day three of the bail hearing.
The defense said this was extremely concerning, while the State Prosecutor said they’d look into the matter. The magistrate said he’d decide “what step to take next” during his free time, citing that it’s the nature of the game and he wasn’t deterred.
Meanwhile the bail application of Matipandile Sotheni, a former South African Police Service Special Task Force officer, has been postponed to next month.
Sotheni briefly appeared before the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
He faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and illegal possession of ammunition.
The charges relate to the killing of Marius van der Merwe, a witness who testified at the Madlanga Commission under the pseudonym of Witness D.
The State has alleged that Sotheni tracked down Van der Merwe and shot him dead outside his home in December last year, shortly after Van der Merwe’s testimony before the commission. The Brakpan Magistrate postponed the matter to the 18th of May.
Elsewhere the urgent application by the suspended Legal Head, Kemi Behari, to interdict respondents, including the City of Ekurhuleni and Lerutla, from continuing with an internal disciplinary hearing against him has been dismissed with costs.
Behari contends that he should instead be referred to the South African Local Government Bargaining Council for pre-dismissal arbitration, citing section 188A(11) of the Labour Relations Act. His disciplinary inquiry into allegations against him was scheduled to run from April 20-24, 2026.