Killed for crime fighting. Marius van der Merwe. Picture: Hein Kaiser Marius van der Merwe struggled to open the front gate when he and his family pulled up to their home just after 8pm on Friday night.
Van der Merwe was shot dead in front of his family in an apparent hit in Brakpan, Gauteng, home. It was the second attempt on his life in two weeks. This time, shots to his head and leg had dealt the final blow, one he told friends and family he knew was coming.
The alleged hitmen sped off, leaving Van der Merwe’s wife and children unharmed. The Citizenreported that two weeks ago a car had followed Van der Merwe and then tried to ram him off the road. A gunfight ensued.
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He was reportedly followed again on Friday night, this time from a bridge along a main road he and his family were taking on the way home from dinner at a local restaurant and onto their street. It slowed down as they approached their house. It appeared to drive past nonchalantly as Van der Merwe attempted to open the gate, before the hitmen opened fire.
Speaking to theSunday Times, Van der Merwe’s mother-in-law, Lesley McLean, remembered the sound of gunshots and her husband telling her to get down. Those orders of caution were followed by desperate cries as they ran to investigate. McLean said Van der Merwe’s eight-year-old son could not be consoled as he knelt beside his father’s body, crying.
His wife, still coming to terms with losing the love of her life, simply penned the note: “I have lost the love of my life. My children have lost their father. And the country has lost a hero.” The former EMPD officer and private security firm owner had recently testified at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into police corruption and criminal collusion. There, he implicated suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) top cop Julius Mkhwanazi in criminal activity.
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