Ekurhuleni metro police deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi planned a theft of precious stones with an estimated value of R14.9m, a secret witness told the Madlanga commission on inquiry on Tuesday. Witness K, a Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officer whose identity has been withheld for safety reasons, told the commission in 2023 that she was in a romantic relationship with Mkhwanazi and took part in the theft of the precious stones from a resident in Killarney, Johannesburg. She said Mkhwanazi was the mastermind of the theft and was aided by his subordinates — officers Aiden McKenzie and Kershia Leigh Stols — under the guise the theft was a lawful police seizure operation outside Ekurhuleni’s jurisdiction.The police officers were captured on video footage in the home of the owner of the stones. The witness told the commission she began dating Mkhwanazi in 2022 and within two months he started asking her to lend him money.“When I could no longer [lend] Mr Mkhwanazi any more money from my salary and I had depleted my savings, he asked me to keep an ear on the ground and pass any information that involved money onto him,” she said. She said she told Mkhwanazi about information she received from a Jango Simon, a man who used to give her tip-offs about stolen cars. Simon told her about a man who was in possession of precious stones and resided near Killarney shopping mall. Simon wanted people who would steal the stones from the owner and would, in return, pay whoever stole the stones and handed them to him, she said. She testified that she informed Mkhwanazi about what Simon wanted as an option for him to make money.“Each of us had a role to play,” she said — hers was obtaining the information about the stones and giving Mkhwanazi details about the residence of the owner of the stones.On the morning of February 11 2023 — the day of the theft — she said she met Mkhwanazi, Stols, MacKenzi and Andy van der Walt and shared the information she had. She told the police that Simon was “willing to pay for the stones”. Stols, MacKenzie and Van der Walt were captured in video footage in the gemstones’ owner’s apartment on the day, and the images form part of the theft investigation.When inside the apartment of the owner of the gemstones, the witness said Stols called her and she enquired with the owner whether he had a licence to deal with precious stones. The owner said he did not have a licence, and Stols and MacKenzie thereafter seized the stones. On February 12 2023, she said Simon gave her R110,000 in cash for the stones. “After receiving the money, I went to meet Mr Mkhwanazi at a car wash. He then phoned officer Stols to come to the car wash. We shared the money equally [among] the five of us. I then gave R88,000 for Mkhwanazi, officers Stols and MacKenzie as well as Mr Van der Walt. I kept the R22,000 for myself.” This is the first time the evidence has been heard by the commission. Mkhwanazi was previously accused of covering up for Stols and MacKenzie on the alleged theft of the gemstones.The commission, investigating allegations of criminal infiltration into law enforcement agencies, continues to hear evidence.