DA renews call to remove suspended Ekurhuleni deputy chief over prolonged delay
Johannesburg’s Ekurhuleni metro is under fresh pressure to move faster on the case of suspended Deputy EMPD Chief Julius Mkhwanazi. The Democratic Alliance s...
Johannesburg’s Ekurhuleni metro is under fresh pressure to move faster on the case of suspended Deputy EMPD Chief Julius Mkhwanazi. The Democratic Alliance says the delay is unacceptable, pointing to a hearing that has dragged on for more than six months while Mkhwanazi remains on the payroll.
The party argues that senior-management rules require disciplinary matters to be handled quickly, and says the process has already gone well beyond the three-to-five-month window it says the regulations allow. Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, the DA’s Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, called the situation “a huge embarrassment” for the metro.
Charges hanging over the case
Mkhwanazi faces multiple charges, including murder, fraud, corruption and the theft of precious stones. He was suspended while the matter moved through the disciplinary process, but the DA says that process has stalled for too long.
“According to the local government regulations for senior management, it stipulates clearly that all the disciplinary processes must be handled within the shortest time period,” Rasilingwane said. “The regulations says between three to five months, which is now over 8 months.”
His remarks sharpened the political stakes around a case that already carries serious criminal allegations. For the DA, the issue is not only about procedure. It is about whether a senior official can stay in office, and keep drawing pay, while facing a long list of charges.
Pressure on Ekurhuleni
The party says the metro should fast-track the hearing and bring the matter to a close. It wants Mkhwanazi held accountable and removed from public office.
Rasilingwane said Mkhwanazi “doesn’t belong in public office” and should be dealt with under the rules. The DA’s criticism lands at a sensitive moment for local government in South Africa, where delays in discipline and accountability often fuel public anger and weaken trust in municipal institutions.
For now, the case remains unresolved. Mkhwanazi is back in court with his co-accused, while the metro faces growing pressure to explain why a hearing that should have been completed months ago is still dragging on.
