Courts & Legal
Questioned in Witness D murder: The final days of Wiandre Pretorius
A story that has been unfolding across the East Rand for years took another unsettling turn this weekend, leaving more questions than answers about a chain of violence linked to a complex criminal investigation in Gauteng.
A witness who broke the silence
Marius van der Merwe, identified during official proceedings as Witness D, became central to the Madlanga Commission after speaking about what he said happened during the 2022 killing of Emmanuel Mbense.
His testimony described a brutal sequence of events, including claims that Mbense was tortured before being killed and that instructions were given to dispose of the body. For Mbense’s family, who had spent years searching for clarity, those revelations helped fill in gaps that had remained unresolved since the incident.
Mbense, a father of five from Brakpan, was killed in April 2022. His body was discovered the next day in Duduza Dam near Nigel, with his personal items still in his pocket. The official cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
Van der Merwe’s decision to speak out came at a cost. He was later shot dead outside his home only weeks after giving evidence, a killing that sparked national concern about the safety of witnesses tied to sensitive investigations.
Pretorius enters the picture
Police later confirmed that Wiandre Pretorius was among the first individuals questioned after Van der Merwe’s murder. Officers seized firearms and mobile phones as part of an investigation that authorities say is now at an advanced stage.
Pretorius had already been implicated during the commission’s proceedings, where testimony allegedly linked him to events surrounding Mbense’s torture and killing. He was also listed among a group of people identified as persons of interest in the original 2022 case.
In the days before his death, Pretorius reported surviving an apparent hit after gunmen fired multiple shots at his vehicle outside his Boksburg home. Ballistic evidence from that incident is still being analysed.
A death that deepens the mystery
On Saturday night, Pretorius died after shooting himself at a filling station in Brakpan. Police have opened an inquest docket while detectives continue probing the wider network of cases linked to Mbense’s murder.
Investigators are now examining whether individuals connected to the case may have been systematically targeted over time. Several people previously identified as persons of interest have died in what authorities describe as assassination-style attacks.
That possibility has added a darker layer to an already complex investigation involving alleged criminal syndicates and individuals linked to law enforcement structures.
The bigger issue: witness safety in South Africa
The killing of Witness D previously triggered debate among officials and civil society groups about how exposed whistleblowers can become once their identities surface. Calls were made for stronger protection measures, with concerns that transparency should never come at the cost of someone’s life.
Across social media, the latest developments have reignited frustration and fear. Many South Africans are asking how multiple people tied to the same case could end up dead before courts have delivered final answers. Others see it as another sign of how difficult it can be to dismantle networks tied to organised crime.
A case that refuses to fade
What began with the unexplained death of a man in 2022 has evolved into a web of testimony, multiple killings, and unanswered questions stretching across several years.
With detectives still gathering evidence and probing possible syndicate links, the full truth behind the Mbense case and the deaths that followed remains unfinished.
For families waiting for justice and for a public already wary of corruption within security structures, the outcome of this investigation carries weight far beyond one community on the East Rand.
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Source: IOL
Featured Image: Facebook/IOL News
