Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) officer Keisha Leigh Stols has become the third accused in the alleged robbery of precious stones worth R14.9 million after making her first appearance in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Stols, who handed herself over to police at the Addendale Police Station on Monday, now faces charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and fraud alongside co-accused Adrian Mackenzie and Etienne van der Walt. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) successfully applied for Stols to be…

The Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court has postponed the case against an Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) officer and a businessman accused of orchestrating the alleged theft of precious stones worth nearly R15 million, as investigators continue to hunt down more suspects linked to the case. Constable Adrian Norman Mackenzie and businessman Etienne van der Walt appeared in court on Monday following their arrests over the weekend by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). The pair face charges including robbery with aggravating…

Two suspects accused of participating in the alleged unlawful raid and seizure of precious stones worth nearly R15 million from a Johannesburg home will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, as the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) confirmed that two more arrests are imminent. The court appearance marks the latest development in a case that has exposed alleged misconduct involving several law enforcement officers from different agencies, as well as a businessman accused of masquerading as a police…

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party has formally called for the impeachment of Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka, accusing her office of incompetence and misconduct in its handling of the explosive Phala Phala scandal involving President Cyril Ramaphosa. In a letter submitted to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza, the MK Party requested that Parliament initiate proceedings in terms of Section 194 of the Constitution, which governs the removal of heads of Chapter 9 institutions. The party argues that Gcaleka and her office…

Police are investigating two separate culpable homicide cases following a tragic sequence of crashes on the N1 near Bela-Bela in Limpopo that claimed the lives of a woman, her baby and the children’s father over the weekend. One of the crashes involved the official vehicle transporting Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who was travelling through the province on Saturday, 9 May 2026. The South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed that the minister was inside the state vehicle when it struck the…

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has reaffirmed its findings into the conduct of senior police officials linked to the 2020 Phala Phala farm burglary, saying its investigation was conducted impartially and strictly within its legal mandate to examine police conduct. On Friday, IPID said its report had recently attracted renewed public attention and had been surrounded by what it described as misinformation, prompting the directorate to clarify the scope and outcomes of its investigation. IPID spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said…

ActionSA has formally approached the Public Protector, calling for the reopening of the Phala Phala investigation following new revelations contained in the recently unsealed report by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). On Thursday, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said the initial investigation was too narrow and failed to fully interrogate the potential involvement of officials within the Presidency in what the party describes as a possible cover up of the 2020 robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Limpopo farm. The…

Calls for accountability over the Phala Phala farm investigation have intensified after multiple political parties demanded the release and parliamentary scrutiny of a report compiled by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) into the 2020 burglary at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm. The African Transformation Movement has formally written to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, requesting that IPID be summoned to account for its findings and conduct during the investigation. In a letter addressed to committee chairperson Ian Cameron, ATM leader…

ActionSA has announced that it is preparing a legal challenge to force the unsealing of the Independent Police Investigating Directorate’s (IPID) report into the conduct of Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) members linked to the Phala Phala matter, after the document was classified as “Top Secret”. In a statement issued on Tuesday, ActionSA said it had begun drafting legal papers to challenge IPID’s decision, accusing the watchdog of deliberately obstructing access to a report that the party believes is critical to…

The long-awaited Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption within South Africa’s criminal justice system opened in Pretoria on Wednesday with dramatic testimony from KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Mkhwanazi, who has served in the South African Police Service (SAPS) for decades, became the first senior witness to take the stand before Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga. His evidence set the tone for what promises to be one of the most consequential inquiries into policing and governance…