Murder of Madlanga Commission witness is ‘an assault on democracy’

Just three weeks after spilling the beans at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and exposing corruption amongst senior officials in Ekurhuleni, Marius van der Merwe (Witness D) was shot dead outside his home on Friday.

An Integrity and Anti-Corruption activist has described the incident as ‘an assault on democracy’.

Van der Merwe, 41, a former EMPD officer, testified partially in-camera due to the sensitive nature of his evidence. His testimony focused on both a specific case of murder and cover-up and broader allegations of corruption within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD).

He detailed an operation that involved EMPD officers and private security personnel on April 15, 2022, in Brakpan, where a robbery suspect was allegedly tortured, including being suffocated with a plastic bag ‘tubing’. The Mozambican citizen later died. 

Van der Merwe also told the Commission that suspended EMPD acting chief Julius Mkhwanazi arrived at the scene and instructed that the body be disposed of, specifically suggesting it be dumped in a mineshaft or a dam, to conceal the death.

Witness D stated that Mkhwanazi’s instruction was clearly directed at him, and he interpreted it as an expectation for him to dispose of the deceased’s body, which he allegedly did out of fear. 

During his testimony, he was asked, “You make the point of stating that when he (Mkhwanazi) said that, he looked at you. What did you interpret that to mean?”

To which he replied, “Commissioners, it was clear at this stage that it was expected from me to dispose of the deceased body…”

Mkhwanazi has since been suspended.

Describing how he got involved in the operation, van der Merwe said, Kobus Janse van Rensburg, the boss of a security firm, repeatedly pressured him to participate in a joint operation targeting a robbery suspect in Brakpan. 

He further stated that, at the robbery suspect’s home, there was ‘a troubling mix’ of individuals, which included EMPD officers aligned with Mkhwanazi, two SAPS members he found suspicious, and Jaco Hanekom, whom he described as ‘a SAPS informer of ill repute.’

Witness D also alleged that Mkhwanazi appointed private security members to the EMPD, and these individuals were allegedly involved in criminal activities such as the recovery of stolen goods, which included copper and cobalt. 

Devoshum Moodley-Veera, an Integrity and Anti-Corruption activist and member of ACCERUS at Stellenbosch University, said whether van der Merwe turned down the request for protection or not, it is the responsibility of the State to have protected him and his family.

This fight requires everyone to stand together and collaborate to find common ground. This is an assault on our democracy, she said.

“It is indeed saddening to hear of the loss of another brave soul, Mr van der Merwe, a key witness at the Madlanga Commission. The country, during the past couple of years, has heard the news of the assassinations of Babita Deokaran, who was the Chief Director at the Department of Health, Pamela Mabini who was a key witness for the Omotoso trial, Mpho Mafole, who was the head of investigations at Ekurhuleni Municipality, Bouwer Van Niekerk, who was a lawyer, and the list goes on. Yet, violence against women was called by the President a National Crisis, yet these murders, which are of national interest, have not been deemed a National Crisis as yet,” Moodley-Veera.

She stated that while the motive behind the killing of van der Merwe is currently under investigation, like many other similar investigations, the sense of urgency is questioned.

Nicole Fritz, a National Committee member of Defend Our Democracy (DOD), said they are alarmed at the extent of criminality, malfeasance, and corruption bedeviling the country’s policing structures and ‘infecting the criminal justice system in its entirety, dramatically and horrifically underscored by the assassination of van der Merwe’. 

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