Suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) head Isaac Mapiyeye has renewed demands for South African metro police services to be granted independent investigative authority, citing systemic failures in the current handover system to the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Testifying before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Thursday, Mapiyeye highlighted how metro officers rarely appear in court because SAPS controls all investigations and dockets.
“You arrest a drunken driver, hand over blood samples at the police station – at times you don’t even get feedback as to what happened with that blood box. At times they don’t even arrive at the lab,” Mapiyeye told the commission.
The former EMPD chief, placed on precautionary suspension in September 2024 over allegations of sexual assault and intimidation of a female officer, argued that granting metro police investigative powers would streamline prosecutions and reduce case backlogs.
Mapiyeye’s appearance is also expected to address claims against acting EMPD head Julius Mkhwanazi, who has been linked at the commission to controversial tender entrepreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
The long-standing national debate over expanding metro police mandates has gained fresh momentum through Mapiyeye’s testimony at the inquiry probing governance and corruption in Ekurhuleni law enforcement structures.