‘I’m no killer and don’t know murdered Witness D’ — suspended EMPD boss Mkhwanazi states

In November 2025, former Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) officer Marius van der Merwe testified at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry about his role in an alleged 2022 cover-up involving the torture and murder of a robbery suspect.

Among those he implicated was EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi, whom he alleged instructed him to dump a body (and who has also essentially been accused of running a rogue unit).

The following month, on 5 December 2025, Van Der Merwe, the director of a private security company, was murdered outside his Brakpan home in Ekurhuleni.

Read more: Witness D’s murder, kidnappings, threats expand sinister web around SA police capture hearings

Up until that point, he had been known publicly as Witness D, a pseudonym assigned to him for safety reasons when he testified before the Madlanga Commission, which is investigating allegations that a drug cartel has infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, politics and private security.

It was at this commission that Van Der Merwe had testified about the torture and murder cover-up, and implicated Mkhwanazi.

Now Mkhwanazi has spoken out about what Van Der Merwe alleged.

‘I don’t know Witness D’

“I don’t know Witness D and Witness D doesn’t know me,” he said on Thursday, 22 January 2026, at Parliament’s ad hoc committee that is investigating the same allegations as the Madlanga Commission.

Mkhwanazi told the ad hoc committee that he had a photograph “where [Van Der Merwe’s] torturing a mother” using plastic.

He therefore hinted that Van Der Merwe had been involved in criminality, similar to the cover-up allegations that Van Der Merwe previously made against him.

“My family, my kids, and I… this thing has disturbed them,” Mkhwanazi said.

He said that he was “seen as the killer police”, but he had “not even been part of that operation”, in which Van Der Merwe had implicated him.

Last year, National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said three people of interest had been flagged in the Van Der Merwe murder case.

On Thursday afternoon, responding to a Daily Maverick query, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said arrests were yet to be carried out.

While Mkhwanazi distanced himself from Witness D’s allegations in his testimony before the ad hoc committee on Thursday, he readily admitted to his relationship with organised crime accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.

Mkhwanazi also admitted, while answering questions from committee members on Thursday evening, that he did not know about Precca – the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

Cash (for a) ‘cow’

Mkhwanazi told the ad hoc committee he had cattle, which were now dying from disease, and that he previously accepted money from Matlala to buy a bull at an auction.

He told ad hoc committee chair Soviet Lekganyane that Matlala gave him between R11,000 and R13,000 for the bull, but he later said it was “20 or 22”, presumably thousands of rands, that Matlala had given.

The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach asked him about this, and Mkhwanazi said Matlala had indeed given him money for “a cow”.

He said he had declared this.

Breytenbach said that declaring it “didn’t take the sting out of it”, and he replied: “Oh, oh. You’re correct.”

Mkhwanazi also acknowledged that he had received money from Matlala for family funerals, but had not disclosed this.

He conceded during the ad hoc proceedings that this did not align with principles, and he may have done something wrong.

Breytenbach pushed him on this aspect, saying he had been aware at the time that accepting the money and not disclosing it was incorrect.

She also put it to Mkhwanazi that he had “trouble recognising a conflict of interest”.

He said he no longer considered Matlala a friend and that communication between them had disintegrated.

‘Problematic’ and ‘trustworthy’

Matlala is central to the overall law enforcement scandal that hinges on the drug cartel infiltration accusations.

He was arrested in May 2025 and is now in custody, facing charges that include attempted murder.

Matlala has also been accused of being a member of the Big Five, but has not been criminally charged in connection with this.

Mkhwanazi testified to the ad hoc committee on Thursday about his background, how he came to know Matlala and how they grew close.

The suspended metro police chief was appointed to the position of EMPD deputy municipal commissioner of operations and specialised services in December 2023.

In October last year, while acting as metro police chief, he took special leave to allow the city council to investigate accusations against him that had surfaced in the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

Mkhwanazi was suspended in November last year.

He described himself as “a problematic man” in that he “always” complained about (presumably lacking) resources in the city.

While members of the ad hoc committee were questioning him on Thursday, Mkhwanazi said he was a trustworthy person.

However, he said he may have previously made certain oversights, in that “you don’t trust a person the first time”.

Medicare 24

Some of his testimony on Thursday focused on Mike van Wyk, the director of a private clinic in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni – Medicare 24 – who offered free health services to metro police members.

Mkhwanazi met Van Wyk in late 2020, and his affidavit to the committee said: “This was due to the Covid-19 virus outbreak, and members of the EMPD saw a need for these required services from Medicare 24.

“A number of the Metro police were infected and affected by Covid-19 virus and some of whom did not have medical insurance, and therefore could not access private health care assistance.”

Read more: Inside Cat Matlala’s R360m police tender that ‘shouldn’t have been awarded’

Van Wyk was willing to provide free testing to officers who did not have medical aid.

Mkhwanazi testified that Van Wyk offered other services, including the use of a helicopter ambulance, and became involved in photocopying past exam papers for metro police cadets at no cost to the city.

This apparently cost Van Wyk R300,000.

‘So impressed’

Mkhwanazi testified that he met Matlala after meeting Van Wyk.

His affidavit to the ad hoc committee said: “I had seen a picture of him hung at the offices of Medicare 24 clinic as a result, I became aware that he was one of the director[s] at Medicare 24, in Boksburg.

“Once I met him, we developed professional rapport, similar to the collegial interactions I maintain with others in the security agencies.”

Aside from Medicare 24, Matlala had a security company, Cat VIP.

By this point, some Ekhurhuleni Metro Police intervention unit officers had told Mkhwanazi that they were practising at a private shooting range with highly trained individuals who were part of Matlala’s security company and who previously worked for the police service.

Mkhwanazi visited Matlala’s CAT Vip company in Tshwane, and recalled, “I was so impressed… that office, it’s well organised.”

‘Like a brother to me’

He said his conversations with Matlala initially focused on “common ground” and their “shared responsibilities within the broader community safety environment”, in which collaboration was crucial.

Matlala was at some point invited to a metro security cluster meeting.

“At the time of the meeting, I occupied the position of Director Specialised Services. Therefore, his interests fell squarely within the scope of my responsibilities within EMPD,” Mkhwanazi’s affidavit said.

“We subsequently grew closer and he became like a brother to me.”

This relationship status, according to Mkhwanazi’s testimony, no longer applied.

During their friendship, Matlala would ask Mkhwanazi for clarity on issues relating to clinics and how these were linked to provincial and local government.

“Additionally, we also discussed broader social matters and training needs for both teams of tactical close protection officers,” said Mkhwanazi’s affidavit to the committee, which he frequently read from on Thursday.

“Due to the skill that his team possessed, I identified a need that may potentially benefit our tactical teams. He enquired about privatisation of VIP. I did tell him that EMPD’s VIP is sourced internally.”

Read more: Registration of ‘Cat’ Matlala’s private security company sparks shakeup at industry watchdog

Companies tied to Matlala that came under scrutiny during Thursday’s proceedings have previously featured in controversies.

Last year, the SAPS awarded a R360-million contract to Medicare 24 that was subsequently cancelled.

Meanwhile, Matlala’s security company, officially identified in government statements as Cat Protection and Security (Pty) Ltd, last year sparked a Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority crackdown after irregularities in how it was registered were picked up. DM