Ekurhuleni legal head Kemi Behari accused of misleading IPID

Ekurhuleni’s suspended head of legal Kemi Behari has been accused of attempting to mislead the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).

Behari was testifying before the Madlanga Commission on allegations that he was part of a clique of senior municipal officials who shielded the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD)'s Deputy Chief, Julius Mkhwanazi, from accountability.

In 2023, IPID recommended that the municipality take disciplinary action against Mkhwanazi after finding he entered the municipality into an irregular contract with companies linked to suspected crime boss Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala.

The commission heard that on 23 November 2023, the Ekurhuleni legal department drafted a response letter to IPID which disputed its findings against Mkhwanazi.

That draft letter was sent to the MMC for Community Safety to approve and forward to IPID, however, the MMC did not do so.

On 7 December 2023, the legal department sent a revised letter to the MMC, stating it was implementing IPID’s recommendations.

Commissioner Sesi Baloyi said the two letters had contrasting content.

“There’s this worrying impression that it seems there was an intention to mislead IPID, to say we are implementing when in fact the internal document was not intending to implement.”

Behari initially tried to distance himself from the 7 December letter , but he later conceded he was the author after being shown proof by the commission’s evidence leader, Lee Segeels-Ncube.

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