Witness D from the Madlanga Commission tragically shot dead in front of family
The Madlanga Commission witness gunned down in Brakpan has been identified as Marius 'Vlam' van der Merwe
Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers/IOL Graphics
The Madlanga Commission witness gunned down in front of his wife and children on Friday night has been identified as Witness D, Marius 'Vlam' van der Merwe.
Private security company, Vision Tactical, said van der Merwe was a former EMPD member and owner of QRF Task Team.
National South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed that police were alerted to a shooting in Brenthurst, in Brakpan, late on Friday.
Three weeks ago, van der Merwe implicated Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) Brigadier Julius Mkhwanazi in wrongdoing, claiming that Mkhwanazi ordered him to cover up a murder of a suspect at the hands of EMPD and SAPS officers.
Van der Merwe's testimony was not on camera.
Marius “Vlam” van der Merwe was gunned down in Brakpan on Friday. He is believed to have been Witness D at the Madlanga Commission
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IOL reported that the ordeal began on April 15, 2022, when security firm boss Kobus Janse van Rensburg repeatedly phoned him about joining a joint operation at the home of a Brakpan robbery suspect.
Van der Merwe told the Commission that Mkhwanazi ordered that the deceased suspect's body be dumped, either in a mineshaft or in a dam.
Van der Merwe further added that he complied out of fear, thinking he would be killed.
He said he put the suspect's body in a van and dumped it in a dam in Nigel.
IOL