Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi. Picture: GCIS Both witnesses who have and those who are due to testify in the Madlanga Commission have criticised Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi’s claims that the commission has done everything in its power to protect whistleblowers. Government’s protection of witnesses has been criticised in the wake of Marius van der Merwe’s death on Friday evening.
The former Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) officer and private security firm owner was shot outside his Brakpan, Gauteng, home. He had previously testified at the commission as Witness D. There, he implicated suspended EMPD top cop Julius Mkhwanazi in criminal activity.
Responding to the backlash, Kubayi said she was pleased with the current witness protection programme and the commission’s efforts to protect witnesses. She claimed that Van der Merwe had been offered protection by the commission but had declined it “because he didn’t think he needed it as he had his own security company”. “In the case of Witness D, as the minister has indicated, witness protection was offered, and it was refused.
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Uhm, or let’s put it more kindly, it was declined, for the reasons given,” added her deputy,Andries Nel. They toldThe Citizenthat Van der Merwe would have taken the protection, if offered, as he feared for his life. It is understood that as threats against him grew, and after surviving a previous attempt on his life, he was willing to go public in an effort to pressure authorities to protect whistle-blowers and reduce the target he had on his back.
Asked byCity Pressabout Kubayi’s claims, Van der Merwe’s wife also reportedly said she was not aware of any refusal. Instead, witnesses claim they were the ones asking for protection, only to be denied or ignored.
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