Madlanga Commission | Mashazi admits she failed to act on IPID report against Mkhwanazi on blue lights saga

Former Ekurhuleni city manager Dr Imogen Mashazi has admitted she received the IPID report recommending charges against suspected EMPD acting chief Julius Mkhwanazi and did nothing, despite claims of fraud and private vehicles registered under the city.

Her admissions come amid long-standing allegations that she helped shield Mkhwanazi from accountability.

Testifying before the Madlanga Commission on Monday, Mashazi confirmed that the IPID report, which detailed alleged fraud, unlawful agreements with underworld figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, and the irregular registration of municipal vehicles under a private security company, was placed directly before her in late 2023.

She acknowledged that the report recommended that the city institute disciplinary charges against Mkhwanazi.

Yet, pressed repeatedly by Commissioner Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Mashazi admitted she “did not pay too much attention” to the report.

This is despite recognising that it contained serious allegations including that vehicles belonging to CAT VIP Protection Services were fraudulently registered as municipal assets.

“I concede that I did not follow up as an accounting officer,” she said.

Mashazi insisted she did act, claiming she referred the report to Corporate and Legal Services and to the suspended EMPD head, Jabulani Mapiyeye.

She conceded that Mapiyeye, not her, was responsible for disciplining Mkhwanazi — but also acknowledged that no action was ever taken.

Asked why she never checked whether Mapiyeye had acted, she responded: “I reached the conclusion [that there was no case] before I perused the document thoroughly.”

Under questioning, she admitted she relied almost entirely on an opinion from the head of Legal Services, Advocate Kemi Behari, who deemed the IPID report “vague.”

She further conceded that she accepted Behari’s conclusion without interrogating basic facts, such as whether CAT VIP vehicles were indeed wrongfully registered in the municipality’s name, or whether any agreement existed between the City and the private company.

“Those are factual allegations,” Madlanga pressed. “Why did you not ask Advocate Behari whether they are true?” Mashazi offered no direct answer.

Her testimony stands in sharp contrast to evidence from former HR head Xolani Nciza, who told the commission that Legal Services sent a letter to IPID on December 13, 2023, outright rejecting the report and defending Mkhwanazi.

Nciza said the letter mirrored a phone call he received on May 23, 2023 from Mashazi instructing him to halt action against the police chief.

In her testimony, Mashazi admitted that Mkhwanazi was cleared based solely on Behari’s opinion long before she properly read the IPID report herself.

kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za

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