Four senior City of Ekurhuleni officials appeared in the Germiston Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after being arrested on charges linked to disputed salary increases and attempts to shield a deputy police chief from disciplinary action.
The accused are suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department deputy chief Julius Doctor Mkhwanazi, former city manager Dr Imogen Mashazi, head of legal services advocate Khemraj Behari and former head of human resources Linda Gxasheka.
Prosecutors allege that on the day the council refused salary increases for Behari and Gxasheka, the finance department implemented them anyway. The pair allegedly received an extra R2,658,553.29 between the 2023/24 and 2025/26 financial years.
The charges also accuse the officials of frustrating disciplinary proceedings against Mkhwanazi over the alleged unlawful registration of four private vehicles as EMPD fleet cars fitted with blue lights. Behari and Mkhwanazi were each granted R50,000 bail while Mashazi and Gxasheka were remanded in custody.
