Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) members dumping a body in a dam, stealing copper cables and kidnapping an EMPD official.
These are some of the allegations against EMPD officers that were laid bare at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System taking place in Pretoria this week.
Retired deputy chief of police of the EMPD Revo Spies fired the first salvo about how the “EMPD is a criminal enterprise”.
Spies said investigators from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) told him in a meeting in March 2023 that they were investigating a murder case related to an incident that happened on April 15 2022 in Brakpan.
Body in a dam
“The IPID investigators told me they were getting threats against their lives because they were investigating the murder case against EMPD officers. A body was found in a dam in the Nigel area. The crime was traced to a group of EMPD officers.
“It is alleged that they tortured a person on the scene using a method called tubing. They suffocated the person using a rubber. They tubed the person. The person who was being tortured told the officers that he has R500 000 in the house. The officers killed him,” said Spies.
“The officers called EMPD deputy police chief Brigadier Julius Mkwhwanazi from the crime scene and he arrived in a white Golf. He told them to clean the scene and put the body in the bakkie so that they can dump it. They dumped the body in a dam. One of the perpetrators turned into a state witness. The crime happened in 2022 and we are here now in 2025, and nothing has happened. IPID says the matter is still being investigated,” said Spies.
Spies also showed the commission videos of Mkhwanazi and other EMPD officers at a Meyerton workshop in August 2022 where they were allegedly stealing copper.
Spies said the whistleblower, Jaco Hanekom, who exposed the EMPD operation at the said workshop, was later killed in March 2023 after the EMPD officers who were arrested were granted bail.
Spies marked for death
Spies said that a member of the State Security Agency (SSA) told him in July 2023 that there were discussions to kill him.
“The person from SSA approached me and told me they picked up death threats against me. The person said Brig Mkhwanazi and other officers were discussing to hire hitmen from KwaZulu-Natal to kill me. [This was at a place in Katlehong.] They said I am easy to take out because I always ride on my motorcycle.
“The SSA person told me they informed the city manager [Imogen Mashazi] about the threats against me and she said ‘I provide him with a gun, he can look after himself’,” said Spies.
He said the SSA provided him with one security guard and he had also tightened his security to protect himself and his family.
Spies said he got the information from the SSA during the period – in July 2023 – when he was “pushing” to get the EMPD and IPID to investigate Mkhwanazi for his involvement in the blue lights saga.
The blue lights saga is in reference to allegations that Mkhwanazi registered personal vehicles belonging to alleged drug cartel member Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala as municipal vehicles and installed state blue lights in them.
Mkhwanazi was suspended this week.
Taken at the cemetery
In addition, EMPD spokesperson and head of media and public relations unit Lt-Col Kelebogile Thepa relived two incidents in 2023 and 2024 where she was hijacked and kidnapped by men because of her “work response to the Vusimuzi Matlala blue lights saga”.
Thepa said in the first incident in July 2023 she was kidnapped by three men. She said in the second incident in 2024 she was kidnapped at OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park by two men who threatened to burn her.
Thepa said on a Saturday morning in July 2023 she woke up and went to the cemetery where her late mother is buried.
Thepa said she went to the cemetery with a relative in the latter’s new car.
“As we were going back home, three men came. One came to the driver’s side and cocked a firearm. He demanded that I switch off the vehicle. He reached out for the car keys.
“Another man came behind me and placed a sharp metal object on my neck. I thought it was a knife but it was a firearm. They wanted my cellphone. I was hit on the head with a firearm,” said Thepa.
“The men drove to my house and then to Ivory Park. While driving they kept saying things related to my work and they wanted my cellphone. They said I am a problem at work… The attack on me was related to my work. The attack was not financially motivated. They did not want the brand new car nor my bank cards which had money. They wanted my cellphone to see the work related information I had. This was a stern warning to me.” said Thepa.
She said after the perpetrators left her and fled, she went to open a case at Rabasotho Police Station in Tembisa.
Thepa said she believes the attack on her was because of the “way she responded to the News24 media inquiry on the blue lights saga around Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala”.
She said Mkhwanazi did not like the way she handled and responded to the February 2023 media inquiry on the blue lights matter.
Curious office visit
Thepa said the following week after the kidnapping incident a Nomapa came to her office looking for her.
She said Nomapa, who works for the EMPD, was previously in a relationship with Mkhwanazi and they have a child together.
“I was puzzled that Nomapa came to the office looking for me. Our departments do not work together or communicate with other. Our work roles do not necessitate that we communicate with each other. There is nothing we need from each other. We are not friends nor associates. We are just colleagues.
“I think she came looking for me because of the kidnapping incident that happened,” said Thepa.
The commission, which is taking place at the Brigitte Mabandla Justice College is chaired by retired Constitutional Court Judge, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
The commission resumes on Monday at 9:30am with a new witness to take the stand.
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