Overview
- A Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department inspector, known as Witness K, gave detailed testimony to the Madlanga commission saying she played a role in the 2023 theft of precious stones from a Killarney apartment and that a romantic, financially dependent relationship with Julius Mkhwanazi led to her involvement.
- Witness K identified suspended Ekurhuleni deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi by name and named EMPD officers Kersha-Leigh Stols and Aiden McKenzie plus private security officer Etienne van der Walt as participants, and the commission was shown CCTV footage investigators say links those individuals to the incident.
- She described a planning meeting at a Meyersdal Square restaurant in February 2023, said Stols, McKenzie and van der Walt entered the apartment, and recounted that an informant later paid R110,000 in cash of which she kept R22,000 and shared the remainder.
- Property owner Peter Prinsloo reported about R14.9 million in missing stones to police and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate probed the case, but only roughly R40,000 worth of stones were recovered and no criminal convictions have been reported.
- The testimony highlights possible misuse of police authority for financial gain, raises fresh questions for IPID and the Madlanga commission, and adds pressure for further investigative or legal steps while the accused deny wrongdoing.