Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi’s testimony reveals Ekurhuleni Metro Police's alleged involvement in R14.9 million theft of precious stones.
Image: Oupa Mokoena/Independent Newspapers
Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi is accused of dispatching two metro officers to commit an armed robbery involving precious stones worth R14.9 million.
The stones went missing from a private property in Rosebank in February 2023, allegedly after the officers raided the property.
This emerged during his testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Thursday, when he was questioned about the legitimacy of the law-enforcement operation outside Ekurhuleni’s jurisdiction.
On Wednesday, he testified that the operation was jointly executed by the EMPD, Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), and Gauteng Traffic Department.
He said the operation followed a complaint from the late Gauteng traffic department deputy chief inspector Guzuzu Gerald Maseko about suspects allegedly selling fake stones on social media and defrauding people.
He told the Commission that he deployed two police officers Kasher Leigh-Stolls and Adrian Mackenzie for the operation. The two are currently under IPID investigation regarding the theft of the precious stones.
According to Mkhwanazi, he and Maseko drove together to Rosebank and parked outside the targeted premises, where their members were still interrogating suspects inside a flat.
When pressed to justify how an operation involving only two EMPD officers could be regarded as a joint operation without evidence that other stakeholders were involved, he retracted his initial statement.
Warrant Officer Bethuel Mulaudzi of the Rosebank police station indicated in his affidavit that both Leigh-Stolls and Mackenzie had signed in at the station to declare they would be working locally, tracing suspects linked to a business robbery in Nigel.
Evidence leader Advocate Mehlape Sello presented evidence contradicting the version that there was a joint operation.
The Commission put it to Mkhwanazi that statements from the two EMPD officers, constables Leigh-Stolls and Mackenzie, showed they were the only two who executed the operation, joined only by a civilian identified as Etienne van der Walt.
Sello accused Mkhwanazi of fabricating the story of a joint operation to legitimise Leigh-Stolls' and Mackenzie's conduct.
"You concocted the story of a joint operation and to persuade the Commission you selected one person who unfortunately has since passed on and he is not able to speak for himself. I find that truly concerning. You did so because you know, as we stand here, Chief Inspector Maseko will not be around to contradict your story," she said.
Mkhwanazi denied the allegations put to him, saying: "I am denying what you are saying."
Co-commissioner Advocate Sandile Khumalo SC expressed concern that Mkhwanazi and Mackenzie misled IPID when the police watchdog unit initially interviewed them about the alleged theft of precious stones.
Khumalo pointed out that neither of them told IPID that Mkhwanazi arrived at the Rosebank address, noting that IPID only noticed a white vehicle parked outside the premises after obtaining CCTV footage of the area.
The footage led to Mackenzie's interview because he was seen walking to the vehicle and talking to someone.
Mkhwanazi conceded that he did not mention being present at the address during his initial interview with IPID.
Khumalo also expressed concern about a pattern of behaviour evident between Mkhwanazi, Mackenzie and Leigh-Stolls, saying: "You seem to be protecting each other. Why are you always protecting each other?"
"You can't just go to somebody's house and raid it. To me, it looks like you tasked them (officers) to go to somebody's house to go and commit an armed robbery," Khumalo said.
Mkhwanazi responded: "Your concern is my concern: where are the rocks, where is the person having them and who is having them?”
He expressed hope that the IPID investigation, led by senior investigator Thulani Magagula will help uncover the truth.
Mkhwanazi said the rocks were handed over to an unidentified JMPD officer.
The victim, flat owner Peter Prinsloo, filed a criminal complaint against Leigh-Stolls and Mackenzie for unlawfully raiding his home, removing sugilite minerals and impersonating a police officer.
According to Prinsloo's statement, the officers removed six boxes of sugilite from his property and loaded it into a marked SAPS vehicle parked outside his apartment.
“The market value of the sugilite minerals removed from my apartment is worth approximately R14,926,412.00," Prinsloo said.
Both Leigh-Stolls and Mackenzie were subsequently arrested in connection with the theft of the precious stones.
In his statement, Prinsloo said that during the March 15, 2023, meeting with IPID at the Benoni police station, he identified the minerals in evidence bag PA 4004203507 as his. However, not all the minerals unlawfully taken from his home were at the station and a significant amount still remained missing.
“The value of the minerals in the aforementioned evidence bag is worth approximately R40,000," he said.
He stressed that he did not give anyone permission to unlawfully and intentionally steal his minerals or intimidate him.
Prinsloo has since filed a civil claim against the City of Ekurhuleni, seeking R45 million.
Magagula said during his testimony that EMPD was aware of the incident even before the civil litigation began.
He testified that some of the stones were recovered from Mackenzie’s vehicle after his arrest.
"He (Mackenzie) agreed that this belongs to him. He even added that during the night this stone is just for decoration," Magagula said.
Mkhwanazi's testimony continues.
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za