Suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi is due to learn on Monday, 14 September whether he will be granted bail in the criminal case arising from the installation of blue lights on vehicles linked to businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Mkhwanazi, who is not related to KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, appeared in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court on 28 August, when the magistrate reserved judgment on his bail application and postponed the matter to 14 September.
The State did not oppose bail. The magistrate nonetheless indicated that certain aspects of the application required further consideration before a decision could be made, and Mkhwanazi was held at Benoni police station in the interim.
He is charged alongside Matlala, EMPD fleet manager Chris Steyn and three companies associated with Matlala. The charges are corruption, fraud and defeating the ends of justice.
The State alleges that four vehicles, a BMW X5, a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, a BMW 3-Series and a Volkswagen Golf were irregularly registered as City of Ekurhuleni municipal vehicles and fitted with blue emergency lights without the required authorisation.
The National Prosecuting Authority alleges Mkhwanazi received payments totalling R70,000 from companies associated with Matlala in connection with the registrations and with the issuing of EMPD peace officer appointment cards to Matlala and individuals associated with him, despite the prescribed processes not having been followed.
The NPA further alleges that, while investigations were under way, the accused facilitated the reversal of the registration of the four vehicles in an attempt to obstruct the investigation.
Steyn, 51, was granted R10,000 bail after telling the court he had no previous convictions or pending cases.
Matlala elected to postpone his own bail application, with his lawyer telling the court the defence was not abandoning bail but needed time to prepare. Matlala and Steyn are due back in court on 9 October.
Mkhwanazi has described the charges as a political ploy.
In an affidavit he said he was not a flight risk, having appeared at all his other criminal proceedings, and disclosed that he faces two disciplinary hearings at the EMPD. He acknowledged that the criminal cases against him could damage his prospects of appointment as EMPD chief when that position becomes vacant at the end of the year.
The matter stems from a 2023 investigation that followed media questions about the alleged misuse of municipal vehicles by Matlala’s CAT VIP Protection company.
It is Mkhwanazi’s fifth criminal case.
He is separately seeking bail in the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court in connection with the murder of Emmanuel Mbense, faces charges of conspiracy to commit robbery, fraud and robbery with aggravating circumstances in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, and is an accused in a R2 million corruption case involving former Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi, suspended head of legal and risk services Khemraj “Kemi” Behari and HR executive Linda Gxasheka, who have all indicated they intend to plead not guilty.
Because he is in custody in connection with other matters, a grant of bail in the blue-lights case would not on its own secure his release.
Matlala is separately on trial in the Johannesburg High Court on attempted murder and other charges.
None of the allegations has been tested at trial, and all the accused are presumed innocent.
