The Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry is expected to continue hearing the evidence of witness, Ekurhuleni head of Human Resources, Linda Gxasheka.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Suspended Ekurhuleni head of Human Resources, Linda Gxasheka, is expected to return to the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Monday to face questions on her accusations against former Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) acting metro police head Revo Spies.
Gxasheka had accused Spies of defrauding the municipality when he took early retirement to join the City of Tshwane.
She was forced to withdraw her allegations of fraud and stated that Spies had instead misled the commission. Spies took early retirement and qualified for post-retirement medical aid subsidy.
“My concern with Revo Spies, in his resignation, he says I’m reaching the age of 60 during November 2024, I’ve decided to pursue early retirement...” Gxasheka read Spies’ resignation letter.
She added: “He said he was retiring to spend time with family, but went straight to Tshwane.
“He gets R5,700 from us while working there. That's a double benefit, at our cost.”
According to Gxasheka, she felt the municipality needed to look into its employees taking early retirement and being hired elsewhere.
Spies, who is now deputy commissioner at the Tshwane Metro Police Department, has previously told the commission probing widespread allegations of wrongdoing within the SA Police Service, some of its most senior officers, the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni metropolitan police departments, the National Prosecuting Authority, and related institutions such as the Independent Directorate Against Corruption that Gxasheka was among the Ekurhuleni officials who blocked action against the suspended, controversial EMPD deputy commissioner Brigadier Julius Mkhwanazi.
Spies previously testified that he retired from EMPD due to rampant corruption and its risk to him personally.
“I was going to have mental health issues and a heart attack if I carried on in this manner. All the criminality around me is directly against my DNA of being a police officer,” he explained.
Spies added: “I cannot cope with nothing being done in the city. It is clear the city is on the path of destruction, and I don’t want to be part of it.”
Earlier in the week, the commission postponed the hearing of the testimony of a witness identified as a police Crime Intelligence officer handling agent informants, who had taken ill.
The commission also concluded the evidence of suspended deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, who testified that controversial murder accused businessman Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala, who admitted in a chat that he arrived at a family function after withdrawing R500,000, intending to give R300,000 to Sibiya, and was driving a Rolls-Royce.
Sibiya disputed Matlala's alleged contribution, saying he has evidence of a family WhatsApp group showing various family members who pledged contributions towards the event.
“This thing of R300,000, I am throwing it away. I am rejecting it right away from the onset,” he said. Sibiya added that the alleged electronic funds transfer of R500,000 was just malicious.
He challenged the commission's investigators to verify whether Matlala actually withdrew the large sum of money as alleged. The commission continues on Monday.