Mkhwanazi denies ordering body dump in Nigel River

Allegations of a midnight call, a tortured man and a body dumped in a dam took centre stage at the Madlanga Commission, where suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) acting chief Julius Mkhwanazi was accused of lying and concealing the truth. In April 2022, Emmanuel Mbhense (51), a father of five, was arrested by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the EMPD in connection with a robbery in Boksburg. Evidence before the commission by Witness D, Marius van der Merwe, alleges that Mbhense was tortured and later dumped in the Nigel River on the instruction of Mkhwanazi.

Mkhwanazi told the commission he went to the scene after Hanekom called him about a recovered truck. He claimed that when he arrived and saw SAPS and private security on site, he realised it was not an EMPD operation and left without intervening or reporting what he had seen. Mkhwanazi said he did not know who was leading the operation and denied knowing some of those allegedly present.

Senior evidence leader Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC pressed him on allegations that he instructed those at the scene to dump Mbhense’s body in a river after he was killed. “Do you agree that Mr Mbhense’s family deserves justice? That they deserve to know what happened to their loved one?

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Why would Witness D implicate you in something so serious if you were not involved? He said you introduced yourself and instructed that the body be dumped in the Nigel River,” Khumalo said. “I am totally denying it.

I have never been part of such things in my life. I don’t believe in violence. This has changed my life,” he told the commission. Commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga described Mkhwanazi’s explanation for rushing to the scene at 2am as sparse, suggesting he was hiding something.

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