Police Leadership Faces Murder Charges in High-Profile Businessman Case

JOHANNESBURG - Julius Mkhwanazi, the suspended deputy chief of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department, was arrested on charges connected to the 2022 killing of businessman Emmanuel Mbense. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate apprehended Mkhwanazi alongside four additional suspects, escalating a sprawling criminal investigation that has already drawn in multiple officers across municipal and national police services.

The operation swept in former EMPD employee Kersha-Leigh Stols, serving EMPD officer Adrian MacKenzie, and a South African Police Service officer. Investigators allege that Mbense was murdered and his body disposed of in a dam in 2022, with Mkhwanazi allegedly directing the concealment.

Testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into alleged criminality, political interference and corruption within law enforcement agencies provided the investigative momentum for the arrests. A witness identified as Marius van der Merwe, referred to in commission proceedings as Witness D, testified that Mbense’s body was deposited in a dam following Mkhwanazi’s instructions after the businessman’s death.

The current charges form part of a broader pattern of criminal allegations that have accumulated around the suspended officer. In July, Mkhwanazi, Stols and MacKenzie faced arrest in connection with the alleged theft of precious stones valued at R14.9 million. Investigators characterized that incident as a fake police operation conducted in Killarney, Johannesburg. That case remains pending before the courts.

The list does not end there. Beyond the Mbense matter and the jewel theft investigation, Mkhwanazi confronts separate charges of fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice in unrelated matters. He has consistently denied culpability across all cases brought against him.

Mkhwanazi’s employment with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department remains suspended while internal disciplinary proceedings continue. The allegations against Mkhwanazi and the other arrested individuals have not yet been adjudicated in court, and under South African law all accused persons retain the presumption of innocence until guilt is established through judicial process.

The Madlanga Commission’s investigation into alleged criminality and corruption within law enforcement agencies has generated multiple criminal referrals. The Mbense case represents one of several matters that have progressed from commission testimony to formal charges, raising the question of how many further referrals the commission’s ongoing work will produce.