Whistle-blower Marius van der Merwe, allegedly known as Witness D, was gunned down outside his Brakpan home on Friday evening, just two weeks after tellingThe Citizenhe believed his “days were numbered”. Van der Merwe, a former Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) officer and the owner of a private security firm, was ambushed shortly after 8pm while opening the gate to his property. He had returned from dinner with his family when two gunmen reportedly opened fire, killing him at the scene.
Two weeks earlier, he survived what he described as an attempted hit when two men in a bakkie tried to ram him off the road in Brakpan, triggering a gunfight near the former Plastic City informal settlement. Van der Merwe toldThe Citizenat the time that he had been followed and believed he was being targeted. The 43-year-old had recently testified at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into police corruption and criminal collusion.
There, he implicated suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi in alleged criminal activity, telling the commission Mkhwanazi instructed him to dispose of the body of a suspect who died in police custody in 2022, a task he said he carried out of fear. A first responder at Friday’s scene, who knew Van der Merwe personally, said the community was shattered by his death. “Marius was passionate about cleaning up corruption and seeking out justice for everyone, no matter what. He was a hero in our community,” they said.
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