The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) on Friday arrested Madlanga Commission witness “K”, an Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) inspector, in Alberton as part of its widening investigation into the alleged R15 million precious stones theft.

Witness K previously testified before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that the 2023 Killarney precious stones heist was a planned robbery disguised as a legitimate police operation. During her testimony, she implicated her former partner, suspended EMPD Deputy Police Chief Julius Mkhwanazi, alleging that he orchestrated the operation and that the precious stones were stolen under the false pretence of an official police raid.

The dramatic arrest forms part of IPID’s expanding investigation into the alleged February 2023 robbery of precious stones during what investigators say was an unlawful police operation in Johannesburg.

Witness K was arrested at a residence in Alberton on Friday afternoon. She was covered her face as officers escorted her to a waiting vehicle.

At another property in Alberton, investigators executed a second warrant of arrest against a known suspect, however the suspect was not home.

Investigators found only a young child at the home, who indicated that his father was not home.

IPID spokesperson Lizzy Suping confirmed that the second suspect had not yet been arrested but said investigators believed he was aware they were looking for him.

“We did not find the suspect in the house. We do not think he is on the run, but we will find him,” said Suping.

She explained that Friday’s operation was aimed at executing the remaining arrest warrants that could not be carried out during last week’s operation.

“Initially, we had five warrants of arrests that we had to effect, and I think a week ago we only effected three warrants because we had to sort out the paperwork for the remaining two. So today we are effecting the two warrants of arrests, and that is why we have the one suspect with us, and we are still looking or pursuing the second suspect.”

Suping said all the suspects were linked to an unlawful raid at a house in Killarney, Johannesburg, in February 2023.

“All of them, like we’ve indicated previously, they raided a house in Killarney, Johannesburg, without a warrant, and one of the suspects also impersonated himself as a police officer, while others went to conduct an investigation in an area which was not their area of jurisdiction,” she said.

She added that two of the suspects were not investigators and had no authority to participate in such an operation.

“We also had two other suspects whose responsibilities at work does not involve any investigation work, and that is the reason why they were facing fraud.”

According to Suping, the alleged theft was compounded by the failure to book the seized precious stones into police evidence.

“There was fraud because there was theft of those precious stones, and they did not even register those exhibits after they seized them from their house in Killarney in the occurrence book of the South African Police at a police station,” she said.

Witness K became a central figure in the investigation after her testimony before the Madlanga Commission, where she alleged that Mkhwanazi had informed her about the operation and that it was never a legitimate police investigation but a planned robbery carried out under the guise of law enforcement. Her testimony placed Mkhwanazi at the centre of the alleged theft of precious stones worth R15 million.

Mkhwanazi was recently arrested alongside former Ekurhuleni City Manager Imogen Mashazi, suspended Human Resources Manager Linda Gxasheka and suspended Head of Legal Services Kemi Behari. The four appeared in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court, where they were each granted bail of R50 000.

Mkhwanazi is also facing separate criminal proceedings after he was previously arrested alongside Ekurhuleni City Manager Kagiso Retutla in another matter. Both were granted bail of R30 000.

The latest arrests come a day after McKenzie and Stols were granted bail of R5 000 each on charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and fraud relating to the same precious stones case. During their bail applications, the pair alleged they acted on Mkhwanazi’s instructions when they handed the precious stones to Witness K after the raid.

Meanwhile, charges against private security company owner Etienne van der Walt were withdrawn after successful representations to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The case has been postponed to late August as investigations continue, with IPID indicating that further arrests remain possible as investigators pursue everyone allegedly involved in the multimillion rand precious stones heist.