Madlanga Commission | JMPD kidnapping, extortion claims exposed

The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has heard explosive allegations of kidnapping, extortion and alleged protection of criminal syndicates within the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD).

JMPD K9 Unit Sergeant Rico van Wyk, told the Commission on Tuesday that officers, Johannes Mokgatle and Zwelibanzi Mgujulwa, were allegedly involved in a kidnapping and extortion incident on 29 September 2021.

Van Wyk says the alleged victim reported that the officers abducted him and his daughter after he picked her up from school, before allegedly extorting at least R5 million from his residence.

The commission was shown video footage of the incident, appearing to capture the two officers forcing the man and his daughter from their white BMW 4 Series before driving off with them in separate vehicles.

Van Wyk said Mokgatle and Mgujulwa were travelling in a white BMW 3 Series and wearing civilian clothing at the time.

He said the officers did not deny being the men seen in the footage, but remained silent when questioned about the incident.

“Both of them were assigned to my shift and I questioned them about the video so to establish whether it was a police operation. Neither officer denied being in the video, however they remained silent and didn’t not provide any information regarding their presence in the incident depicted in the video,” van Wyk said.

Van Wyk says the pair also failed to notify the K9 Unit’s WhatsApp group about the operation, despite officers normally using the platform to alert colleagues about their activities.

Meanwhile, JMPD Head of Internal Affairs Superintendent, Elmarie de Beer, has levelled serious allegations against former Superintendent, Phineas Manyama.

De Beer says Manyama allegedly created “no-go zones” in Johannesburg, preventing certain Tactical Response Unit (TRU) members from policing areas where criminal syndicates were allegedly operating.

She said officers entering Cyrildene, an area known for its large foreign-national community, were on several occasions allegedly ordered by Manyama to leave and stop patrolling the area.

De Beer further alleged that selected TRU members were permitted to operate in these areas, with some allegedly escorting trucks transporting stolen copper for criminal syndicates.

She said some of these members were also allegedly appointed outside the JMPD’s lawful recruitment processes.

In another incident, De Beer said TRU officers spotted a black bakkie allegedly transporting drugs and attempted to pursue it, calling SAPS for backup.

But she claimed Manyama later contacted the officers, reprimanded and insulted them before confiscating their tools of trade.

De Beer said disciplinary action against Manyama and members of his TRU group has repeatedly failed to get off the ground, largely due to insufficient evidence.

She also testified that some officers are allegedly instructed by superiors to abandon certain criminal investigations, despite their willingness to pursue them.

De Beer said informants are another major challenge, alleging that some are used by JMPD officials to facilitate criminal activity, only to later report those same officials to Internal Affairs.

She said members of the public are often reluctant to expose alleged police criminality because they fear retaliation from armed and dangerous officials.

De Beer said the lack of a formal JMPD database tracking informants further complicates investigations, despite informants playing a critical role in gathering intelligence on crimes such as drug and human trafficking.

When Internal Affairs hits a dead end, she said cases are escalated to SAPS for urgent intervention.

Internal Affairs is responsible for investigating, among other things, misconduct, extortion, assault and corruption within the JMPD, and may refer cases for prosecution where a prima facie case is established.

The Commission also heard that Internal Affairs is severely understaffed, particularly in matters involving the Security and Licensing divisions.

De Beer said the JMPD is now recruiting at least 20 additional officials to strengthen the unit.

She said the department has more than 3,000 officials across seven units, with Internal Affairs tasked with helping the Chief of Police maintain discipline and compliance.

De Beer also revealed that, unlike the Tshwane and Ekurhuleni metro police departments, Johannesburg has no deputy chiefs of police, leaving the Chief of Police as the department’s sole head and supervisor.

Written by: Odirile Rabalao