Police say Wiandre Pretorius was person of interest in murder of Witness D, Marius van der Merwe

Des Erasmus

SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said on Sunday that Wiandre Pretorius, implicated at the Madlanga Commission in the extrajudicial killing of Emmanuel Mbense, was a person of interest in the murder of Marius van der Merwe, who testified as Witness D about Mbense’s death at the commission last year.

Pretorius — it remains unclear if he was an active police officer, former police officer, or reservist — killed himself at a filling station in Brakpan, east of Johannesburg, on Saturday night.

“He was actually the first person of interest that we took in for questioning [after Van der Merwe was killed]. We had seized his firearms as well as cell phones, which are still in police custody, for further investigation. That particular investigation is still ongoing, and it is at an advanced stage,” Mathe said.

Pretorius’s suicide came after he survived a botched hit on Thursday outside