Former Ekurhuleni City Manager Dr Imogen Mashazi’s testimony at the Madlanga Commission this week was wild.
Mashazi appeared before the police inquiry on Monday and Tuesday this week, unpacking (or rather, dodging) the rot in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD), which reported to her. Her testimony offered South Africa a front-row seat to what happens when bureaucratic laziness meets a culture of impunity.
Here are the three most startling revelations from her testimony:
🔹 Inaction on sexual harassment and rape allegations:
Mashazi admitted she had received informal reports from female EMPD officers about sexual harassment and rape dating back to 2016. The allegations were staggering: EMPD Police Chief Isaac Mapiyeye reportedly fathered children with subordinates and allegedly raped a junior officer.
Mashazi’s response? Dismissing the reports as “hearsay”, doing zilch by way of investigations or discipline, and opting for a half-baked “empowerment programme” to stop women becoming “sexual slaves”.
Under cross-examination from Chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, she said that, “It was just hearsay and their frustration”. And without formal complaints, her “hands were tied” while these abuses continued for years.
🔹 Shielding suspended Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi*
Mashazi repeatedly denied protecting Mkhwanazi, despite evidence that he faced multiple allegations of fraud, irregular vehicle registrations, and shady contracts with infamous tender don Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
She cleared Mkhwanazi based on a legal opinion she hadn’t fully read and even approved a R200,000 salary bump post-appointment. Many saw this as textbook political loyalty trumping accountability, and the commission didn’t hide its scepticism.
And today, the drama deepened: fresh testimony placed Mkhwanazi at the scene of a 2022 alleged murder cover-up, which he denies — even as a secret witness detailed torture, body-dumping instructions, and later produced bank records showing payments totalling R70,000 to him from companies linked to “Cat” Matlala.
*Not to be confused with KZN top cop and whistleblower Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
🔹 Dodgy ties to Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and corruption
Mashazi faced tough questioning over EMPD contracts linked to Matlala, whose companies have been associated with extortion and theft. Mashazi tried to shift the blame, claiming she had delegated oversight to subordinates, but the commission was unconvinced. She also confessed to ignoring 2023 red flags from police watchdog IPID regarding fraud and unlawful agreements with Matlala. It wasn’t just laziness; it was a wilful blind eye to networks bleeding the city dry.
And oh, the attitude. Think: eye-rolling and scrolling through her phone mid-testimony (supposedly “hunting evidence” but yielding nada). But the cherry on top? Mid-hearing, she paused to apply lipstick, sparking viral memes and a hilariously tone-deaf IOL question: “What shade is that?”
Mashazi has been given until next Wednesday to provide the relevant documents and evidence in the form of a supplementary affidavit. Madlanga rebuked her inertia as a “systemic problem”
