Ekurhuleni city manager Kagiso Lerutla is believed to be the senior official who was arrested yesterday, with multiple sources indicating he is expected to appear in the Boksburg magistrate’s court today alongside metro police deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi.
According to sources who spoke to the Sowetan on condition of anonymity, Lerutla is being detained at the Midrand police station, where Mkhwanazi — arrested on Saturday — is also being held. While their exact connection remains unclear, police have confirmed that two suspects are facing serious charges.
Police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe confirmed the arrest of two suspects aged 40 and 50 years. “They are charged with fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice,” she said.
Another source from Midrand police station confirmed that Lerutla was being detained there. However, key aspects of the case — including whether the matters involving the two men are directly linked — had not been publicly detailed at the time of writing. Sources stressed that the arrests were not in relation to the blue lights saga highlighted at the Madlanga commission, where Mkhwanazi was accused of providing blue lights to alleged cartel member Vusi “Cat” Matlala. That contention sits uneasily alongside indications from city leadership that the deputy chief’s arrest may be connected to evidence ventilated before the commission.
The city’s executive signalled that it, too, is scrambling for verified information. Ekurhuleni mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza said he had not received full details and that much of what he knows has come via media coverage.
“What we know is that there was an ICT official that was arrested on Friday, and Mkhwanazi arrested yesterday so we don’t have the details. At least with Mkhwanazi we know its relation to Madlanga.
“If there is anything that links Kagiso [Lerutla] it has not come up at Madlanga. So we are trying to check if that is the case — first, if Kagiso was arrested and what are the issues.
“I am sure as soon as we get that data we will send you the necessary updates,” he said.
The DA’s mayoral candidate in Ekurhuleni, Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, declined to comment until after Lerutla’s anticipated court appearance today, underscoring the fluidity of the situation and the scarcity of official detail.
Lerutla’s arrest — if confirmed in court — would cap a tumultuous period for the city manager, whose tenure has unfolded against a backdrop of high-stakes governance and security concerns. A qualified accountant, Lerutla worked for the auditor-general before joining the Ekurhuleni municipality in 2014 as divisional head of compliance and governance in the city’s financial department. In 2019, he was appointed as the city’s chief financial officer and, in November last year, elevated to city manager. His rise through the city’s finance and administrative ranks has coincided with multiple probes into municipal operations and persistent public scrutiny over service delivery and procurement.
In September 2023, Lerutla survived a mysterious alleged shooting. Sowetan reported that he was allegedly ambushed by unknown gunmen who riddled his car with bullets, leaving him with an injured hand. According to his friends and colleagues, he was attacked in Primrose while allegedly travelling alone. It is said that his attackers jumped out of a Hyundai i10 and started to shoot at his vehicle. That incident, which did not immediately result in arrests publicly known, added a personal security dimension to the pressures facing the city official.
Mkhwanazi, meanwhile, has faced his own long-running controversies. In 2022, he was accused of fitting blue lights to a fleet belonging to Matlala without the city’s approval. The allegations fed into a broader “blue lights” narrative around the illicit equipping of private or non-official vehicles with police-style warning devices and the apparent manipulation of municipal assets.
In 2023, the police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), issued a negative report against Mkhwanazi and ordered the city to discipline him. Evidence obtained by Ipid indicated that four vehicles were registered as City of Ekurhuleni vehicles between January 18 and 24 2023. The same vehicles then changed ownership on the Enatis system from the City of Ekurhuleni fleet and were registered as CAT VIP vehicles in March 2023. Money from the city was used to pay for the registration and licensing, which cost about R2,218.
“Based on the above information contained in the case docket, Ipid recommends that disciplinary steps be taken against Mkhwanazi, for the contravention of MP Disciplinary Procedure Collective Agreement: Standard of conduct (1) (1.2.5) Conduct themselves with honesty and integrity. However, docket is referred to DPP for decision,” the report read.
Despite the watchdog’s recommendations, the city did not act against Mkhwanazi at the time, amid claims that he was being shielded by senior officials: former city manager Imogen Mashazi, head of legal Adv Kemi Behari and head of HR Linda Gxasheka. All three have denied these allegations. That impasse left the matter in the hands of prosecuting authorities, and the Ipid docket was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions for a decision.
As of yesterday, sources insisted the latest arrests were not linked to the blue-lights evidence before retired Justice Madlanga’s commission, even as Mayor Xhakaza suggested that, “at least with Mkhwanazi we know its relation to Madlanga.” The tension between those accounts is likely to be tested in court today, where charge sheets and initial disclosures could clarify the factual basis of the case and whether the matters involving Lerutla and Mkhwanazi intersect.
For Ekurhuleni’s administration, the stakes are acute. The arrest of a city manager — the municipal accounting officer — would raise immediate governance questions, including the continuity of executive functions, potential acting appointments and the integrity of decision-making processes under legal cloud. For the metro police, the presence of a deputy chief in the dock would compound public concerns about internal controls, asset management and the culture of accountability within the service.
Beyond the courtroom, political actors are keeping their counsel for now. The DA’s Rasilingwane has opted to wait for formal proceedings, while the mayor has promised to provide updates once reliable information is available. In the meantime, confirmation from SAPS of fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice charges against two suspects — aged 40 and 50 — sets a grave tone.
The precise contours of the case will emerge as the matter proceeds, but for residents and businesses in Ekurhuleni, today’s expected appearance at the Boksburg magistrate’s court could offer the first concrete answers to a set of questions that have swirled for days: who is charged with what, how the suspects are connected, and whether the allegations reach into broader patterns of misconduct already spotlighted by oversight bodies.
