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Metro police officers implicated in the theft of R14.9m in precious stones tried to quash the career-threatening case, including infiltrating the National Prosecuting Authority, evidence before the Madlanga commission on Tuesday showed. Witness K, a Johannesburg metropolitan police department (JMPD) officer whose identity has been withheld for safety reasons, testified that she was part of a scheme in which police officers colluded to steal precious stones under the guise of a lawful seizure operation at a residence in Killarney, Johannesburg.The theft plan involved suspended Ekurhuleni metropolitan police department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi, his subordinates — officers Adrian Norman MacKenzie and Kesha Leigh Stols — and civilian Etienne (Andy) van der Walt. Chats between the witness and Stols show the officers discussed how they could scupper the criminal case, which was investigated by Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) assistant director Thulani Magagula. “We just need to get someone who can make the case go away,” a message from Stols in May 2023 reads. Witness K responded by saying, “Will get, don’t stress.” The message was sent in May 2023, three months after the owner of the stones opened a theft case against EMPD officers in February 2023. Witness K told the commission that Mkhwanazi, whom she described as her former lover, was the mastermind of the theft scheme because he needed money.Stols, MacKenzie and Van der Walt confiscated the stones from the owner because he did not have a licence to deal with precious metals. The stones were sold for R110,000, which all officers and Van der Walt shared. The stones were not booked into the Rosebank police station as evidence recovered from a lawful police operation.The testimony of the witness was the first made under oath, admitting unlawful conduct of police officers as the Ekurhuleni metro was threatened with a multimillion-rand lawsuit for the theft. The case falls within the commission’s mandate of probing corrupt activities in law enforcement agencies. The chats also show Stols expected Witness K to talk to Magagula and influence him to quash the case. “Have you not made any movement with Magagula? We have made plans to sort out the DPP [director of public prosecutions] on that side when the case goes,” a message from Stols reads. “I know why Magagula is pushing these things against us. EMPD are putting pressure on him because they want us gone. Is there a way to ask him if we resigned? Will it make his life easier?” Stols asked. Witness K responded, “OK, let me ask.” Read: Cocaine sale and Motsumi’s R20m loan: Madlanga probes Matlala associateWitness K told the commission she did not speak to Magagula but merely told Stols she would do so. She also told Stols she “will sort this out soon”.“I wanted Mr Jango [an informer] to bring back the stones so we can book them into the SAP 13 [the official register to secure confiscated goods] so that we can have the SAP number for Mr Magagula. So that when they want an SAP number, they will get it and the stones as well,” Witness K said, explaining what she meant by sorting out the matter.She said she planned to have the stones sold to one Jango Simon, whom she identified as an informer, and book them into a police exhibits register to make the theft case fail. Commissioner Sesi Baloyi asked how Witness K would have tried to register the sold stones in a police exhibit file months after they were stolen. Baloyi put it to Witness K that the move was yet another unlawful act to corrupt a police officer at a police station to falsify the booking of the stones months after they were stolen.Baloyi said the chats also suggest she was in talks with Magagula or someone who had access to Magagula. Witness K denied that she had spoken to Magagula at the time or asked him to quash the case. The texts show Stols was scared of Magagula, describing him as “evil” and someone who likes arresting police officers. “We have tried everything to get him [Magagula] to stop, and he won’t. He is out for blood. We think it is working with the EMPD to get us out. I am scared,” Stols said. “This is killing us. I don’t want to sit in jail; who will look after my daughter? So, I will appreciate all the help. Kenz [MacKenzie] is so depressed, he is drinking like crazy, and the other guy, Etienne [van der Walt], is thinking about ending his life; it’s bad.” Magagula previously told the commission he found some of the stolen stones in MacKenzie’s car during his investigation. “Upon searching the vehicle of Adrian Norman Mackenzie, we recovered some stones inside [it]. When we found the stones, he was standing there, and I had to ask him, ‘Does this belong to you?’ He agreed it did. He even added that during the night, the stone was just for decoration,” Magagula said. He told the commission the stones were the ones the police had stolen from the Killarney resident. Magagula said that in his investigation he found the EMPD officers had visited the Rosebank police station and reported that they were tracing a suspect for a business robbery that took place in Nigel and needed permission to do so outside the Ekurhuleni jurisdiction. Quizzed about delays in the precious stones investigation, Magagula had pinned it on the fact that he was investigating 727 cases. Mkhwanazi will return to the witness box on Wednesday to answer to the allegations that he planned the theft of the precious stones.
