Ekurhuleni Metro Police (EMPD) acting chief Brigadier Julius Mkhwanazi has been accused of forging signatures of his bosses to benefit alleged criminal kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who in turn provided the city with a helicopter that could fly for only two hours a month.
Testifying before the Madlanga Commission on Monday, retired deputy chief Revo Spies alleged that Mkhwanazi altered official documents to disguise private deals with Matlala’s companies, Cat VIP Security and Medicare 24, under the guise of public–private cooperation.
Spies said the forged plans and accompanying memorandums of understanding (MOUs) effectively allowed Matlala’s firms to assume policing powers, including responding to emergencies, registering private vehicles as EMPD assets, and even conducting medical procedures during operations.
“This memorandum purports to say a private company will act as police,” Spies said.
He only became suspicious when he saw the signatures of the documents that something was wrong.
“It’s as if someone used an old document with the same signature,” he said.
Mkhwanazi allegedly forged the chief’s and deputy’s signatures.
According to Spies, this was wrong and he could not allow this to happen.
Under the MOU signed by Mkhwanazi, Cat VIP offered the EMPD access to a helicopter but with an extraordinary limitation: a maximum of two flight hours per month.
In return, the Metro allegedly agreed to recognise the company’s luxury vehicles, two BMWs, a Mercedes-Benz, and a Volkswagen Golf, as official EMPD cars.
Spies condemned the arrangement as legally indefensible and operationally useless, calling it a “childlike” attempt to formalise an unlawful relationship between the Metro and a criminally linked businessman.
A second MOU with Matlala’s healthcare subsidiary, Medicare 24, granted the company power to draw blood at roadblocks and provide “legal advice” during drug busts — citing the CEO’s “health qualifications and legal degree” as justification.
Spies said the agreements blurred the line between law enforcement and private enterprise to a dangerous degree.
“It’s absurd. Two hours of flight time don’t help policing, and reporting crimes to a private company is unlawful. We report to SAPS and not to civilians,” he said.
Spies described this as the infiltration of criminal influence into city policing structures.
Mkhwanazi has since taken special leave to allow investigations into his matter. But he maintained that everything was done legally with the city.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the suspended EMPD chief, Jabulani Mapiyeye revealed that SWAT members, a unit led by Mkhwanazi, stand accused of murder, extortion, kidnapping, theft, and hijacking.
The SWAT unit, Mapiyeye said, operated more like a mafia outfit than a police team, with at least five criminal cases registered against three of its members.
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