Mkhwanazi in alleged torture and illegal extradition case

You should've commited suicide - top cop

- By Setumo Stone

KwaZulu-Natal’ top cop, Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, and several police officers are facing a slew of serious allegations, including abduction, torture, arson, perjury and illegal extradition.

The allegations, laid out in a confidential police report and a detailed affidavit from one of the alleged victims, Esmael Maulide Ramos Nangy, have triggered parallel investigations by authorities, including the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).

Nangy, Setefane Pereira da Costa Brites, and Samkeliso Mlotshwa were accused of participating in the September 2024 kidnapping and robbery of businessman Zak Desai and demanded R35-million from him.

However, the charges were abruptly withdrawn on January 22, 2025, leaving the accused and their legal representatives to allege procedural irregularities and unlawful conduct by the police.

The saga began in November 2024, when Nangy and another individual were travelling from Mpumalanga to Johannesburg. According to Nangy’s affidavit, as they approached the Craft Road interchange near Benoni, a white VW Golf 8 and a BMW forced them to a halt.

"They pointed guns at us, forced us onto the ground, covered our heads, [and] failed to present an arrest warrant," Nangy recalls. Neither the assailants - allegedly a mix of police officers and private security operatives - nor their vehicles were marked or identified, said Nangy.

What followed, according to both Nangy’s account and the police investigation, was a harrowing ordeal of physical and psychological abuse. The pair was taken to a private residence in Houghton, Johannesburg.