The precious stone theft case against suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi has been postponed to Tuesday for the finalisation of the bail application.
Mkhwanazi and the Madlanga Commission’s Witnesses K were arrested on Friday for their alleged involvement in the 2023 theft of precious stones worth close to R15 million at a Houghton home in Johannesburg.
Mkhwanazi has confirmed to the court that he was in the past romantically involved with Witness K who is a Johannesburg Metro Police Officer.
He claimed Witness K testified against him at the Madlanga Commission in Pretoria to spite him.
Mkhwanazi’s lawyer Shafique Sarlie told the court that Witness K was just a bitter former lover.
“As of February 2023 I was romantically involved with Witness K and hesitant to reveal intimate details of my personal life. But candidly, I must reveal that she was very much in love with me. But if truth be told, I quickly came to realise that she was not the lifetime partner that I was seeking. And within a few months of our romance, I summarily broke up the relationship. She was emotionally distraught and devastated when I jolted her. I believe this to be the primary motive in fabricating the evidence that implicated me, which now forms the basis of the charges.”
