Inside the Pretorius case: From police reservist to key figure in Madlanga probe

Wiandre Pretorius

Cape Town – Wiandre Pretorius, a 41-year-old former South African Police Service (SAPS) reservist and police informant, died by suicide at a petrol station in Brakpan on the East Rand on the night of 7 February 2026.

Police have confirmed, ending months of scrutiny over his alleged links to the murder of a key state witness and a controversial killing that has rocked national attention.

Pretorius’s death came just days after he survived a reported assassination attempt outside his home in Boksburg, when his vehicle was riddled with 16 bullets — an incident that sparked fresh alarm over the safety of individuals connected to high-profile cases under investigation.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said that Pretorius was a person of interest in the murder of Marius van der Merwe — known in court proceedings as “Witness D” — who was gunned down outside his Brakpan home in December 2025 after testifying at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

“In relation to Wiandre Pretorius, he was a person of interest in [the] murder of Witness D,” Mathe stated, adding that firearms and cellphones had been seized from him and were still being analysed as part of an ongoing investigation. “He was actually the first person of interest that we took in for questioning. … That particular investigation is still ongoing and it is at an advanced stage.”

The Madlanga Commission has been examining alleged corruption, collusion, and criminality within law enforcement. During his testimony in November 2025, van der Merwe told the commission that Pretorius played an active role in the torture and killing of Emmanuel Mbense in 2022 — a case that first drew national attention to allegations of misconduct by police and private security operatives.

 van der Merwe described seeing Pretorius suffocate Mbense with a plastic bag and holding him down with the assistance of others, and that after Mbense purportedly revealed cash in his home, the men isolated him. “Pretorius allegedly warned that the suspect ‘would never ever talk again,’” van der Merwe told the commission.

Pretorius’s apparent suicide has led police to open an inquest docket, and detectives from SAPS and forensic teams are investigating the circumstances of his death, which reportedly occurred in the presence of his partner, police sergeant Juan-Mare Eksteen. Mathe confirmed that police were reviewing all available evidence.

Pretorius’s death forms part of a series of unexplained fatalities tied to the Mbense case, with police noting that of the 12 people identified as persons of interest, eight are still alive and several have died under violent circumstances, including van der Merwe himself.

As investigations continue into the murder of Mbense and related deaths, police have said that efforts are being intensified to prevent further loss of life and to build a prosecutable case from evidence gathered in one of the most contentious legal inquiries in recent South African history.

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