For three years the Mbense family has lived in agonising uncertainty, clinging to fragments of hope, pleading with authorities for answers and waking up each day not knowing how their brother, father and provider, 51-year-old Emmanuel Mbense, spent his final moments. Now, after a chilling public disclosure at the Madlanga commission by Witness D,Marius “Vlam” van der Merwe, the family has turned to AfriForum’s private prosecution unit for justice. Mbense was murdered on April 15 2022 at his home in Brakpan, east of Johannesburg.
His body was found the next day at Duduza Dam in Nigel, with his car keys and driver’s licence in his pocket. His death certificate lists blunt-force trauma to the head as the cause of death. But the truth about what happened that night remained buried until November this year, when the family received a call from an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) investigator warning them that details about Mbense’s death would emerge before theMadlanga commission.
They were not prepared for what followed. The testimony, delivered publicly by Van der Merwe, forced the family to relive Mbense’s final moments in a crowded hearing room, surrounded by strangers. “We had no time to prepare ourselves emotionally,” said Mbense’s brother, Nhlanhla.
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“We were re-traumatised as the details unfolded. The very institutions we trusted to seek justice have failed us.” Van der Merwe, who was himselfgunned down outside his Brakpan homeon Friday night, testified on November 14, giving a detailed account of the night of April 15 2022. He said he had been at home with his son when he received several calls from Cobus Janse van Rensburg, owner of Ghostguard Security, asking for help with “an operation” to “knock” the house of a suspect linked to a warehouse robbery in Brakpan.
For a long time, we lived with unanswered questions. The truth only started surfacing at the commission. Receiving such devastating news publicly has been incredibly painful He eventually agreed and went to Sallies Village, where they confronted the suspect.
Van der Merwe said the man admitted involvement and was found with R500,000 in cash, a warehouse robbery case docket, SAPS forensic bags and live ammunition. He testified that Brakpan police members, including Viandre Pretorius, took custody of the suspect. A plastic bag was placed over the man’s head, and Van der Merwe admitted to holding down his legs with a broken table leg while police tried to force a confession.
He briefly left the room, only to see officers later rushing out. When he asked if the suspect talked, he was told: “He will never talk again.”
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