Suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi and five other people accused of murdering Emmanuel Mbense will remain in custody after their bail applications were rejected.
The Brakpan Magistrate’s Court dismissed the applications on Tuesday, 15 September 2026, bringing an end to the accused’s bid to secure their freedom while the criminal case continues.
Those who were denied bail alongside Mkhwanazi are security company owner Cobus Janse van Rensburg, serving EMPD officer Adrian MacKenzie, former EMPD official Keisha-Leigh Stols, and former police officers Bhekokwakhe Sibande and Juan-Maré Eksteen.
Magistrate Colin Mashego said the six applicants had failed to put enough evidence before the court to justify their release.
Mashego found that none of the accused had demonstrated the exceptional circumstances required for bail in the case.
“The court is satisfied that neither applicant one, two, three, four, five, nor six has shown exceptional circumstances, and then the matter comes to a cul-de-sac,” he said.
The six accused are facing criminal charges stemming from Mbense’s death in April 2022.
The State has charged them with murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and defeating or obstructing the administration of justice.
Mbense was allegedly tortured and severely assaulted before he died from blunt force injuries.
The case has drawn widespread attention, particularly after evidence about the circumstances surrounding Mbense’s death was heard by the Madlanga Commission.
Ipid’s investigation alleges that Mbense came under suspicion after a truck linked to him was allegedly connected to a warehouse robbery in Brakpan on 9 March 2022.
The State alleges that more than 10 people descended on Mbense’s home on 14 April 2022.
The group allegedly included SAPS members, EMPD officers and private security personnel.
Mbense was reportedly inside his home when the group arrived, with the accused allegedly searching his property before questioning him about copper said to be worth about R2 million.
Investigators allege that Mbense was subsequently taken away and subjected to torture.
His body was later allegedly dumped at Spaarwater Dam in Duduza, Nigel, following an instruction allegedly issued by Mkhwanazi.
Mbense’s body was found at the dam on 15 April 2022.
The accused are further alleged to have failed to notify authorities about what had happened to him.
The State alleges that those involved later gathered at Carnival City, where they agreed to conceal the circumstances surrounding Mbense’s death.
They allegedly warned that anyone who broke their agreement would face death.
Four other people who were allegedly linked to the case have since died.
One of them was private security officer Marius “Witness D” van der Merwe, who was shot dead in Brakpan on 5 December 2025.
Raymond Mzwakhe Khoza, who worked in the SAPS visible policing unit, was killed in Tsakane in October 2025.
Police informant Jaco Hanekom was also killed after being shot at a petrol station in March 2023.
Eksteen’s fiancé, Wiandre Pretorius, died by suicide in February this year, shortly after surviving a shooting.
