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Blue Lights and R20k Payments: Mkhwanazi’s Madlanga Commission Bombshell
R20k payments and a growing blue lights scandal
Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department chief Julius Mkhwanazi has found himself in the centre of a storm at the Madlanga Commission. He admitted that he accepted cash from private security businessman Vusimuzi Cat Matlala. According to him, the money helped with petrol, food, and funeral costs. At times, the cash amounted to as much as R20 000.
He maintained that he did nothing wrong. But the exchange of money between a senior metro police official and a powerful private security figure is already fuelling suspicions of influence and favouritism.
The authority letter, he says, he never signed
The Commission is trying to uncover how a 2021 letter surfaced that appeared to grant Matlala’s company an endless working relationship with the metro police. The same document listed a number of private vehicles as assisting EMPD operations.
Mkhwanazi denied signing the letter. He said his signature was forged and that the document was used without his consent. He did acknowledge signing a separate partnership agreement with two of Matlala’s companies but insisted that this did not grant them police privileges.
The question remains why Matlala’s vehicles were treated as though they held official police status.
He will not go to jail for blue lights
Another major allegation is that private vehicles linked to Matlala were given access to blue lights usually reserved for law enforcement. The Commission suggested that while Mkhwanazi may not have installed anything himself, he might have enabled access.
He rejected that outright. In emotional testimony, he said he would not go to prison and leave his children over blue lights. He refused to accept any involvement in enabling those privileges.
Public concern over who really holds power
For Joburg and Ekurhuleni residents who rely on metro police daily, these revelations are unsettling. The idea that private security operators could wield police authority raises fears of blurred lines and potential abuse. If influence can be bought or traded, then public safety becomes vulnerable.
The Madlanga Commission continues to probe deeper into these relationships and the wider allegations of corruption affecting law enforcement structures in the city. Senior officials are still expected to give evidence. South Africans are waiting for answers and accountability.
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Source: IOL
Featured Image: News24
