BREAKING NEWS: IPID Senior Investigator Tells Madlanga Commission Suspended EMPD Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi Was Among Suspects She Recommended for Charges in the Killing of Brakpan Businessman Emmanuel Mbense

Senior Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) investigator Nomsa Masuku testified under oath before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Thursday, February 12, 2026, naming suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi among the suspects she recommended for prosecution in the 2022 murder of Brakpan businessman Emmanuel Mbense. Mbense, 51, disappeared from his home on April 14, 2022. His body, showing signs of blunt force trauma consistent with torture, was recovered the following day from Spaarwater Dam near Duduza, Nigel.

Masuku, the lead IPID investigator, detailed evidence including vehicle tracking records, duty registers, postmortem reports, and DNA matches linking suspects to the scene. She read out warning statements obtained from several individuals and confirmed the completed docket was submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for a decision on charges. Mkhwanazi was implicated in a cover-up, allegedly summoned to the scene to direct the disposal of Mbense's body in a dam or mineshaft. Other suspects include private security figure Willem Pretorius (deceased by suicide in February 2026); and the late Marius van der Merwe (Witness D), a former EMPD reservist murdered in December 2025 after testifying.

Masuku indicated more than 12 suspects overall, with at least four now deceased—some in execution-style killings or suicides—prompting concerns of witness intimidation. No arrests have been made despite the referral, though a prosecution decision is anticipated imminently. The investigator described significant obstacles, including initial SAPS classification of the death as an inquest rather than murder, delaying IPID involvement, and personal threats: her vehicle was shot at on the N17 in December 2024 with her children present, and she reported related dangers to her family.