EMPD Still Gripped by Climate of Fear

Witness D’s murder is a clear indication that the coordinated culure of victimisation of staff under rogue leaders persists

The proceedings of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry have unveiled a harrowing narrative of systemic abuse and institutional terror that gripped the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department under the supposed dual influence of suspended Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi and the former City Manager, Dr. Imogen Mashazi.

For years, the department was not merely a site of administrative failure but a theatre of active intimidation where ordinary employees and high-ranking officials were subjected to a coordinated campaign of victimisation.

This era was defined by a culture where the rule of law was replaced by the whims of a powerful faction, turning the workplace into a battlefield for committed employees.

Together, Mkhwanazi and Mashazi allegedly created a system of harassment, where the former exerted physical and operational pressure on the ground while Mashazi provided the administrative muscle to silence any dissent from the top.

The harassment within the department was characterised by the ruthless weaponisation of municipal authority against anyone who dared to challenge the status quo.

According to testimonies rendered at the commission, Mkhwanazi’s reign was marked by the creation of an environment where officers were allegedly coerced into performing unlawful tasks, effectively being forced to choose between criminal complicity and professional suicide.

This psychological warfare was epitomised by the tragic case of Marius van der Merwe, known as Witness D, who courageously testified that Mkhwanazi had ordered him to dispose of a suspect’s body in a river to cover up a murder. His testimony described a terrifying reality where employees were not treated as civil servants, but as disposable tools at a law enforcement institution that has been turned into a criminal enterprise.

The assassination of Witness D on 5 December 2025, in an AK-47 hit carried out in front of his family in Brakpan, serves as the ultimate and most brutal continuation of this victimisation.

This ruthless murder was a calculated message sent to every remaining employee that the reach of this rogue faction extends far beyond the office walls.

The terror was further compounded by the fact that those who attempted to report these abuses were frequently met with hostility from the City Manager’s office, as Dr. Mashazi allegedly intervened to protect Mkhwanazi and initiate forensic investigations into the whistleblowers themselves, effectively criminalising the act of integrity.

The reach of this coordinated intimidation was particularly evident in the treatment of the department’s public relations and administrative staff, as heard at the commission. The PR manager and their team were allegedly placed in a state of constant professional siege, forced to operate as a propaganda wing for a leadership they knew to be compromised.

Testimony at the commission described a climate where staff were bullied into suppressing the truth about the department’s internal rot, facing direct threats to their livelihoods if they failed to sanitise the narrative of Mkhwanazi’s rogue unit.

The legacy of Mkhwanazi and Mashazi is, therefore, one of profound human and institutional damage. The culture of harassment they allegedly unleashed from the helm has served to ensure that the department remains a lawless enclave where accountability remains non-existent.

The Madlanga Commission has exposed how the machinery of the city was turned against its own people, highlighting a dark chapter where those sworn to protect and lead instead became the primary sources of fear and victimisation.