The family of former Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department official Marius van der Merwe, who was killed outside his home on Friday, has received support from the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation (AKF), Defend Our Democracy, and other civil society organisations. Image:Picture: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers Marius van der Merwe, “Witness D” at the Madlanga Commission, was shot and killed this past weekend outside his Brakpan home. CCTV footage shows him attempting to draw his own weapon and conversing with his assailants.
On Friday, he was shot several times in front of his family outside their Brakpan residence. Van der Merwe gave testimony before the commission about the torture and interrogation of a Mozambican suspect at an unofficial site in Brakpan. He alleged that a group of EMPD officers with private security had been involved in the death of the man using methods, including tubing, regarded as torture and Van der Merwe said he was forced to dump the body into a dam.
President Cyril Ramaphosa led the tributes, calling on law enforcement agencies to establish the circumstances ‘leading to his heinous act’. “I am appalled and saddened by this attack on a former public servant who recently served the cause of justice and integrity by testifying at the Madlanga Commission,” Ramaphosa said. “My thoughts are with the deeply traumatised family who came under attack last night.
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They faced death in circumstances that suggest Van der Merwe’s brave testimony angered elements in our society who want to undermine the rule of law and set back the quest for truth and consequences in the fight against corruption.” “The Commission has noted with profound sadness the brutal killing of one of its witnesses, Mr Marius van der Merwe. (He contributed) towards uncovering serious allegations of criminality and corruption in the EMPD,” its spokesperson, Jeremy Michaels, said in a statement. The police have activated a NATJOINTS structure, the highest security structuring, including officers and intelligence at the most senior levels, to investigate Van der Merwe’s murder. He was a Brakpan-based security industry member and former Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) official.
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