Staff Reporter
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) said on Saturday it was pursuing two suspects after arresting one person in connection with the theft of precious stones worth nearly R15 million during a 2023 raid on a Johannesburg home.
The directorate said the suspect was being held at the Edenvale police cells and was expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
It said three arrest warrants had been obtained, but two suspects could not be located during an operation conducted with the police Tactical Response Team on Friday night.
The case relates to a warrantless search of a private residence in Killarney, Johannesburg, where precious stones valued at just under R15 million were seized and later allegedly not properly registered as police exhibits.
IPID said the investigation initially involved six suspects: three Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department officers, a Gauteng Traffic Police official, a Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department officer and a private businessman accused of impersonating a police officer during the raid.
One of the six suspects has since died, IPID said.
The watchdog said the suspects face corruption charges because EMPD officers allegedly conducted an investigation outside their jurisdiction and failed to register the seized stones in the SAPS occurrence book.
Some of the stones were later allegedly found in the vehicle of one of the EMPD officials.
The matter has featured prominently at the Madlanga Commission, where a protected witness, known as Witness K, testified that she was a JMPD VIP unit officer and had helped provide information about the stones before the alleged operation.
The matter has been linked — at the commission — to suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi, EMPD officers Kesha-Leigh Stols and Adrian McKenzie, and civilian Andy van der Walt.
Witness K testified that the stones were sugilite and that they were later sold for R110,000, with the proceeds allegedly shared among those involved.
Mkhwanazi has denied wrongdoing.
He has told the commission that the operation was a joint law-enforcement exercise, but evidence before the inquiry raised questions about whether there was any lawful basis for the raid or proper registration of the seized stones.
This is a developing story
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