The case against suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi and three co-accused over the alleged theft of precious stones worth R14.9 million has been postponed to 18 September 2026 for the State to disclose its case to the defence.
Mkhwanazi appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday alongside Kgomotso Makhubu, Adrian MacKenzie and Kersha-Leigh Stols.
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They face charges including robbery with aggravating circumstances and fraud, with the robbery charge falling under Schedule 6 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The charges stem from an alleged bogus law-enforcement operation at a residential flat in Killarney, Johannesburg, in February 2023, during which six boxes containing high-grade sugilite and manganese stones valued at about R14.9 million were allegedly taken.
The State alleges the group acted outside the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department’s jurisdiction and presented the operation as a legitimate law-enforcement raid.
Details of the alleged robbery emerged publicly during testimony before the Madlanga Commission.
Makhubu, who testified in camera as Witness K, told the commission that she had provided information about the stones and the property and implicated Mkhwanazi in the alleged operation.
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Mkhwanazi has denied the allegations.
In an earlier bail affidavit, he alleged that Makhubu fabricated the allegations against him after he ended an alleged romantic relationship between them, claiming she was “devastated” by the breakup.
Mkhwanazi and Makhubu were previously granted bail of R5,000 each. MacKenzie and Stols were also granted bail.
Mkhwanazi, however, remains in custody in a separate case linked to the alleged 2022 extrajudicial killing of businessman Emmanuel Mbense.
He was arrested by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate on 5 August and faces a Schedule 6 murder charge, among other charges, in connection with Mbense’s death.
Former co-accused Etienne van der Walt has since become a State witness in both the precious-stones case and the Mbense matter.
