Slain Witness D faced charges in Mbense murder case

The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry heard on Thursday that the late Marius "Vlam" van der Merwe, known as Witness D to the commission, was told he might face charges alongside other police officers for the murder of Emmanuel Mbense, a Brakpan man whose body was found dumped in Spaarwater Dam on April 15, 2025.

Van der Merwe was shot dead outside his home in Brakpan on December 5, 2025, after testifying before the commission, where he implicated Julius Mkhwanazi, the suspended deputy chief of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD), in assisting with the cover-up of Mbense's death.

Mbense, accused in a robbery involving stolen goods, allegedly died after being assaulted by police officers.

Testifying at the commission Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) senior investigator Nomsa Masuku said she interviewed Van der Merwe, former EMPD reservist, regarding circumstances surrounding Mbense's death.

Masuku testified that her team met with Van der Merwe in Alberton, after he contacted Ipid between July and August 2022, claiming to have information on a Brakpan police killing.

She said Van der Merwe was accompanied by some Hawks team members on the day of the meeting.

Shortly after their arrival, they alerted Masuku that it was not safe to proceed with the interview as there were some activities that made them feel that they were being followed. 

The meeting was rescheduled and it was later held at Ipid offices in Pretoria, where Van der Merwe described how Mbense was allegedly tortured to death by two police officers and a white male.

Masuku said: "To him (Van der Merwe), he was there with this suspect busy begging to say 'please tell us where did you take the goods to'. Every now and then, he would talk to this white male who was suffocating the deceased, saying 'please don't forget that we are here looking for goods'. He was coming out to us as if he did not play a part in the torturing of the deceased but he witnessed it."

She told the commission that she informed Van der Merwe that "whatever you are saying, you may later be charged along with the other people. You are not immune to the commission of the crime".

She said she was not happy when Van der Merwe was called to testify at the commission because she knew that could potentially derail her case and was concerned about the slain witness’s safety.

Regarding the alleged role of Mkhwanazi in Mbense’s murder case, Masuku testified that Mkhwanazi told Ipid that he was awoken by the late police informer, Jaco Hanekom, to witness the recovery of stolen goods in a truck in Brakpan. Hanekom was killed days before his appointment with Ipid officers in 2023.

Hanekom allegedly showed Mkhwanazi a recovered white truck, saying "everything is under control". 

Mkhwanazi expressed frustration, stating he was surrounded by about nine white males and was not happy he had been brought to a scene not under metro police jurisdiction.

Masuku told the commission that the investigation faced several delays as Van der Merwe repeatedly warned investigators that his co-suspects were "very dangerous people". 

"As an investigator, I had to think of Marius' safety every time we made a move to other mentioned suspects," she said.

She added that threats risk analysis were conducted on the investigators, who were eventually provided with protection services from March 2023 until July 2024. 

She revealed that she faced alarming threats, including her vehicle being shot at with her children inside in December 2024 on M17 in Springs.

Masuku said the private security was stationed at the investigators’ residence but did not accompany them on the move.

"I am not saying it is them (suspects), but those are the threats that were coming towards us," she said, adding that Mbense's murder case was not the only sensitive case she is dealing with.

"There was a time when my son was shot, but thank God he is able to walk now," she said.

Masuku testified that the crime scene had to be reconstructed as Ipid was not present when the SAPS initially attended the scene.

She said Van der Merwe's statement led her to interview private individuals implicated in the case.

"At that point, I didn't continue with the arrest of members that were mentioned by Marius because Marius was a witness that was incriminating himself," she said.

Ipid investigators used Automatic Vehicle Location system to track a BMW 3 Series to Mbense's house at the time of his alleged murder. The vehicle was driven by police reservist Constable Alexander Fritz, who had since resigned from the SAPS.

"This confirmed the suspicion by the family that the police were at the deceased's home when he was reported missing," Masuku said.

She told the commission that in 2022, Ipid submitted the memorandum to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for the review of the case with suspects, who included Fritz, Van der Merwe, Mkhwanazi, and Hanekom.

"The DPP advised among others, that we would not be able to obtain a conviction in circumstances where we are relying solely on the testimony of a single witness who himself was a suspect in the murder," Masuku said.

The number of the suspects in Mbense’s murder case have since increased to 12, including four deceased, and the docket was recently referred to DPP for a decision on possible prosecution.

[email protected]