By Johnathan Paoli
Brigadier Julius Mkhwanazi, controversial deputy chief of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD), has been suspended with immediate effect, the City confirmed on Tuesday.
Mkhwanazi’s suspension follows months of mounting pressure over the “blue lights scandal” and damning testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into police corruption.
The decision comes less than two months after the Ekurhuleni Council voted down a motion calling for Mkhwanazi’s suspension.
At the time, ANC, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and ActionSA councillors insisted that only the city manager had the legal authority to act.
Mkhwanazi’s fall from grace has been brewing since 2023, when he was accused of unlawfully registering luxury vehicles belonging to businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala as official EMPD assets and fitting them with emergency blue lights.
Although an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) probe recommended disciplinary action, the city failed to act.
The suspension coincides with new revelations
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