Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola visited the home of slain whistleblower Marius van der Merwe on Monday. Meanwhile, Ipid has confirmed its investigation into claims Van der Merwe made at the Madlanga Commission is ongoing. On Monday night, 8 December, National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola, flanked by the police top brass, visited the Brakpan, Gauteng, home of slain whistleblower Marius van der Merwe, where they had a private meeting with Van der Merwe’s partner, Lee-Anne McLean.
Afterwards, Masemola told the media that the SA Police Service and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) were investigating a murder allegedly involving Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) officials and private security officers that Van der Merwe testified about in November at the Madlanga Commission. While the motive for Van der Merwe’s killing is unknown, there’s speculation that it was linked to his testimony at the inquiry. Earlier on Monday, Masemola said the SAPS had identified three suspects in Van Der Merwe’s murder.
On Monday night, he said, “We have just met the family of Van der Merwe, to brief them on how far investigations are into this murder. We have confirmed to the family that we do believe that we have found one of the vehicles that were used during the shooting. Apparently, there were two vehicles used, a sedan and a white Chevrolet bakkie.” The white bakkie was found abandoned behind a mall in Alexandra on Friday.
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Earlier video footage showed it appearing to monitor Van der Merwe’s house. “At this stage, we do believe that the bakkie that was abandoned in Alexandra township is the right one that did some observation at Van der Merwe’s home. According to our crime scene experts, they will do investigations on the vehicle,” said Masemola.
As to the motive of the murder, he said, “We do not want to speculate, but we don’t rule out what is happening at the Madlanga Commission. But also, we don’t say that might be solely the motive; there are various other angles to the case that might be linked to the motive.” Van der Merwe, who ran a security company, was involved in the battle against illegal miners, known as zama zamas, on the East Rand, which has also been suggested as a possible motive for his murder. In September, he filed an attempted murder case after an apparent attempt on his life.
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