PRETORIA – The City of Ekurhuleni is on an aggressive campaign to get over 3,000 EMPD officers vetted in the next two months.
The 3,500 officers have not been vetted for four years.
The State Security Agency and an independent audit firm will be conducting the screening.
Ekurhuleni City Manager, Kagiso Lerutla, said on average, they will be vetting about 80 officers per day.
“We are anticipating taking a period of two months to complete this entire process. By law, our officers are required to be vetted annually, but unfortunately, the last time they were vetted was in 2022, hence the mayor has instructed us to move with speed," Lerutla said.
It has been established through the Madlanga Commission and Parliament’s SAPS Ad Hoc Committee that Ekurhuleni is at the centre of wrongdoing, with serious allegations leveled against some officers.
EMPD Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi has also been accused of opening the municipality's door to alleged criminal kingpin Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala.
In January, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the Madlanga Commission had found there was prima facie evidence of wrongdoing against nine current and former employees in the municipality.