By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi and his co-accused case postponed to 27 August 2026.
The suspects face charges of murder and defeating ends of justice following the killing of Emmanuel Mbense and dumping of his body in a dam near Brakpan.
Fullview understands the EMPD, SAPS and private security guards raided the premises, ransacked the property and apprehended Mbense. While they were questioning him, Mbense said they should instead take R500,000 that was in his possession.
Mkhwanazi, EMPD officers Keisha Leigh Stols and Adrian MacKenzie, former SAPS officers Bhekokwakhe Sibande and Juan Maree Eksteen, and private security company owner Cobus Janse van Rensburg are charged under Schedule 6 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA).
Schedule 6 offences are among the most serious under South African law.
Under the Section 60 (11) of the CPA, accused persons are required to demonstrate exceptional circumstances in order to be granted bail.
According to a statement deposed by deceased Marius van der Merwe, known as witness D, only he, the late Wiandre Pretorius and Mackenzie transported Mbense’s body to Spaarwater Dam.
Van der Merwe, who testified under the pseudonym “Witness D” at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to protect his identity, was fatally shot outside his home in Brakpan on 5 December 2025, three weeks after testifying.
The accused appeared before the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court where IPID investigator Nomsa Masuku continued with her testimony in court.
Masuku said the decision to relocate Mbense’s body was an attempt to cover up the crime.
“They were supposed to report to the local police station to say this has happened; the scene must be attended. Not for them to make these arrangements they were doing.”
“It shows that they had a motive that because now he had died, let’s go and take the body and dump it somewhere, so that we can confuse the scene,” she said.
The defence argued that one of the accused, Janse van Rensburg, had already left the scene before Mbense was robbed, killed, and his body dumped.
Masuku conceded Van Rensburg was not present when Mbense was robbed and killed.
Jan van Heerden, legal representative for accused number two police officer Sibande, also argued that his client was not at the crime scene on the night the businessman was murdered.
The defence teams focused on the credibility and conduct of the deceased witnesses. They sought to shift blame on Van der Merwe by citing evidence he gave before the Commission in which they claimed he implicated himself in Mbense’s killing and the disposal of his body.
The accused argued that, because they have not been linked to the deaths of their co-conspirators, the deaths should not be used as grounds to deny them bail.
Bail hearing was postponed as defense challenges prosecution’s reliance on deceased witness.
Mbense was murdered on 15 April 2022 in Brakpan. His body was discovered the following day at the Duduza dam in Nigel, with his car keys and drivers’ licence in his pocket.