EKURHULENI, Sunday 30 August 2026 — The City of Ekurhuleni has incurred more than R1.27 million in salary, benefits and related costs for suspended metro police deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi while disciplinary proceedings against him remain unresolved, according to information disclosed by the Gauteng provincial government.
The figure of R1,272,211 was provided in a response to questions directed to Gauteng Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Jacob Mamabolo.
Mkhwanazi has been suspended from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department since 11 November 2025 pending disciplinary proceedings.
He remains on full pay despite facing a growing number of criminal cases and being in custody.
The disclosure gives a clearer indication of the financial consequences for the metro while the disciplinary processes continue.
No official has been appointed to act permanently in Mkhwanazi’s suspended position, meaning the municipality has not incurred a separate additional salary for an acting deputy chief, according to the provincial response.
Two internal disciplinary matters remain under way.
One concerns the installation of blue lights and other emergency equipment on vehicles associated with businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s private security operation.
The disciplinary hearing has sat on several occasions since February.
A second process concerns a separate precious-stones matter.
That hearing has dealt with preliminary objections and points in limine and is scheduled to proceed to the merits in September.
The City has said it cannot provide a date by which the disciplinary proceedings will be completed because four witnesses still have to testify.
The delay has attracted renewed criticism from the Democratic Alliance, which is campaigning to take control of Ekurhuleni in the 4 November local government elections.
DA Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane said the municipality should no longer allow the disciplinary process to continue indefinitely.
She called for Mkhwanazi’s dismissal or resignation and questioned why ratepayers should continue funding his remuneration while he is unable to perform his duties.
Those comments represent the DA’s political position.
Mkhwanazi remains entitled to the legal and disciplinary protections applicable to municipal employees, and the criminal allegations against him have not resulted in convictions.
The City’s disciplinary proceedings are governed by the applicable Disciplinary Procedure Collective Agreement.
The controversy extends well beyond the internal employment process.
Mkhwanazi became a prominent figure in evidence before the Madlanga Commission, which has been investigating allegations of criminal infiltration, corruption and political interference in South Africa’s law-enforcement institutions.
His relationship with Matlala has been a central subject of evidence concerning Ekurhuleni.
The commission previously heard evidence about a memorandum of understanding under which vehicles associated with Matlala’s security company were allegedly fitted with blue lights reserved for law-enforcement use.
Mkhwanazi has subsequently faced multiple arrests and criminal proceedings arising from several separate investigations.
In April, he was arrested alongside Ekurhuleni city manager Kagiso Lerutla on fraud, corruption and defeating-the-ends-of-justice charges.
They were later granted bail of R30,000 each in that matter.
Prosecutors allege that Lerutla paid R400,000 for Mkhwanazi to arrange for another person to impersonate him in court in connection with an excessive-speeding matter.
Both men are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Mkhwanazi has since appeared in additional cases and remains in custody in connection with other charges.
The provincial government’s latest response says he has been arrested five times and remains behind bars.
One of the broader corruption cases also concerns remuneration within the Ekurhuleni administration.
Mkhwanazi appears alongside former or current municipal officials in a case in which prosecutors allege that approximately R2.66 million in disputed salary increases was paid despite the municipal council declining to approve the adjustments.
According to the charge sheet, officials Kemi Behari and Linda Gxasheka allegedly received substantial remuneration increases from August 2023.
The State alleges the payments continued after the council had declined to endorse them.
Mkhwanazi is separately alleged in the same case to have received an unjustified salary increase after becoming deputy chief.
The charge sheet places his remuneration package at approximately R1.8 million a year following the adjustment.
The allegations have not been tested at trial.
Mkhwanazi told the court during a July bail application that his current net monthly income was approximately R65,000 and that his EMPD employment represented his only source of income.
He said he had worked for the department since 2003 and stood to receive a substantial pension, which he cited as one of the reasons he was unlikely to evade trial.
The latest disclosure creates an additional political problem for the Ekurhuleni administration because it arrives little more than two months before voters choose a new council.
Ekurhuleni has been governed through unstable multiparty arrangements for much of the current municipal term and is expected to be one of the country’s most competitive metropolitan elections.
No major party is assured of an outright majority.
Municipal governance, corruption and the performance of the EMPD are consequently likely to feature prominently in campaigning.
The Mkhwanazi controversy is particularly sensitive because it combines all three issues: municipal administration, policing and expenditure of ratepayer funds.
It has also drawn the Ekurhuleni municipality directly into the wider institutional questions being investigated by the Madlanga Commission.
The DA has already sought to make the issue part of its metro campaign.
Rasilingwane, who is challenging for the mayoralty, has argued that continued payment to Mkhwanazi demonstrates a failure by the administration to act decisively against officials facing serious allegations.
The City, however, is required to complete its disciplinary procedures lawfully rather than treating criminal allegations as findings of guilt.
That distinction will remain important as both the criminal and employment proceedings continue.
The immediate next stage will come in September, when the disciplinary hearing concerning the precious-stones matter is scheduled to proceed on its merits.
Four witnesses also remain outstanding in the City’s disciplinary processes.
Until those proceedings are concluded or Mkhwanazi’s employment status otherwise changes, his suspension continues — and so does the financial cost to Ekurhuleni.
With campaigning for the 4 November election now entering its main phase, the length of that process and the municipality’s handling of one of its most senior police officials are likely to face increasing political scrutiny.
