Ekurhuleni city manager and metro police deputy chief arrested on corruption charges

Kagiso Lerutla and Julius Mkhwanazi face fraud and corruption charges as part of an ongoing investigation into municipal malfeasance.

Police arrested Ekurhuleni city manager Kagiso Lerutla and suspended metro police deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi on corruption charges over the weekend, with both officials scheduled to appear in the Boksburg magistrate's court on Monday¹²³.

Mkhwanazi, 50, was arrested at his Gauteng home on Saturday morning by the SAPS Madlanga task team¹. Lerutla, 40, was arrested on Sunday morning in Johannesburg²³. Both face charges of fraud, corruption and defeating and/or obstructing the ends of justice¹²³. The two officials were being held at Midrand police station²³.

The arrests form part of an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption within the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD), according to national police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe¹. Mathe said the task team was still searching for other suspects linked to the case¹.

Mkhwanazi is accused of fraudulently fitting blue lights to a fleet belonging to alleged cartel member Vusi "CAT" Matlala². He spent several days testifying before the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria about his dealings with Matlala, and has also been accused of running a kidnapping and extortion racket in the EMPD⁵.

Sources told the Sowetan the nature of Lerutla's alleged involvement remained unclear, and that it was not in relation to the blue lights matter highlighted at the Madlanga commission³. Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza said he had been learning information through headlines and that while the charges against Mkhwanazi related to the Madlanga commission, any link involving Lerutla had not emerged from that inquiry³.

ActionSA called for Mkhwanazi's immediate dismissal, saying he had brought both the EMPD and the City of Ekurhuleni into disrepute and forfeited his credibility⁵. Police declined further comment on the merits of the case¹.