The Germiston Magistrate’s Court on Thursday granted suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) acting boss, Julius Mkhwanazi and suspended municipal head of legal services, Kemi Behari, bail of R50 000 each.
This comes as their co-accused, former Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi, and suspended head of human resources, Linda Gxasheka’s bail will be heard on Friday. The prosecution said that both their residential addresses still needed to be verified.
However, despite being granted bail, Mkhwanazi and Behari will spend the night in the cells along with Mashazi and Gxasheka at Brooklyn police station in Pretoria, as the bail office was already closed when the court proceedings were adjourned on Thursday.
They can only be set free after their bail has been paid.
Corruption, fraud, defeating the ends of justice
The four accused appeared in court facing charges of corruption, defeating the ends of justice and fraud.
The charges relate to alleged abuse of public office, unlawful salary adjustments, and the obstruction of internal disciplinary processes.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, the matter stems from investigations that began in February 2023 after the EMPD received media enquiries regarding the alleged use of municipal vehicles by CAT VIP Protection, a private security company owned by Vusumuzi Matlala.
The state alleges that Mkhwanazi unlawfully received municipal vehicles from CAT VIP Protection, caused them to be registered as part of the municipal fleet without the necessary approvals, and later deregistered them during internal investigations.
The state further alleges that despite recommendations by EMPD and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, Ipid, that Mkhwanazi face disciplinary proceedings, Dr Mashazi, Adv Behari and Gasheka allegedly acted together to frustrate and halt the process. His precautionary suspension was subsequently lifted prematurely.
Irregular salary increases
Between 2023 and 2025, Adv Behari and Gasheka are accused of unlawfully benefiting from salary increases of over R1.3-million each, processed without approval from the Ekurhuleni Council as required by municipal legislation and policy.
Mkhwanazi is also accused of receiving an irregular salary increase of over R650 000 after his appointment as deputy chief of metro Police, following what the state calls a flawed recruitment process and without compliance with the municipality’s prescribed approval procedures.
State prosecutor, Nceba Ntelwa, had requested the court to give all four accused bail of R100 000 each; however, the accused’s lawyers contested the amount, asking for bail between R10 000 and R30 000.
Mashazi and Gxasheka’s bail will be heard on Friday at the same court.
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- Magistrate Trevor Classen granted suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police acting boss Julius Mkhwanazi and suspended municipal legal head Kemi Behari bail of R50,000 each.
- Co-accused former city manager Imogen Mashazi and suspended HR head Linda Gxasheka's bail hearing was postponed to Friday for address verification.
- Despite bail approval, Mkhwanazi and Behari spent the night in police cells because the bail office was closed; they were released only after bail payment.
- All four suspects face charges of corruption, fraud, and defeating the ends of justice; the state had requested R100,000 bail each, but their lawyers requested lower amounts.
- The four suspects were held overnight at Brooklyn police station following Friday's court adjournment.
