Suspended EMPD chief arrested with four in Mbense murder

Suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi and four other suspects were arrested on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in connection with the 2022 murder of businessman Emmanuel Mbense. The arrests, conducted by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), mark a major development in a case that has drawn national attention and was highlighted by a judicial commission investigating law enforcement corruption.

The five suspects, who include current and former EMPD officers, a South African Police Service (SAPS) officer, and a private citizen, are accused of murder and defeating the ends of justice. They are scheduled to appear in the Brakpan Magistrates' Court on Thursday, August 6. IPID alleges the group was involved in the killing of Mbense, the disposal of his body at Spaarwater Dam in Duduza, Nigel, and the subsequent failure to report the crime.

According to the investigative directorate, the case stems from a police raid on Mbense's home in Boksburg North on April 14, 2022. Mbense had been implicated in a business robbery. He disappeared the same day as the raid, and his body was discovered in the dam by a passerby on April...