Witness D's final moments: CCTV footage shows confrontation with attackers

CCTV footage reveals the moments leading up to the murder of Marius van der Merwe, referred to as "Witness D" at the Madlanga Commission. Van der Mervwe was gunned down outside his Brakapan home at the weekend, talking to his assailants and attempting to draw his gun before he was killed.

He was shot multiple times in full view of his family outside their Brakpan home on Friday.

Van der Merwe gave testimony before the Commission about the torture and interrogation of a Mozambican suspect at an unofficial site in Brakpan.

He alleged that a group of EMPD officers with private security had been involved in the death of the man using methods, including tubing, regarded as torture and Van der Merwe said he was forced to dump the body into a dam.

President Cyril Ramaphosa led the tributes, calling on law enforcement agencies to establish the circumstances 'leading to his heinous act'.

"I am appalled and saddened by this attack on a former public servant who recently served the cause of justice and integrity by testifying at the Madlanga Commission,” Ramaphosa said.

“The Commission has noted with profound sadness the brutal killing of one of its witnesses, Mr Marius van der Merwe. (He contributed) towards uncovering serious allegations of criminality and corruption in the EMPD,” its spokesperson, Jeremy Michaels, said in a statement.

The police have activated a NATJOINTS structure, the highest security structuring, including officers and intelligence at the most senior levels, to investigate Van der Merwe’s murder. 

On Sunday (EMPD) Superintendent Jacques Vorster said his good friend died with a lighter heart because he felt guilty about his role in dumping the body of a suspect in a dam, and he wanted to get it off his chest.

Vorster, broke down in tears speaking about Van der Merwe’s assassination.

He said his friend always felt guilty about the suspect’s death and his role in disposing of the body, and he was keen to get it off his chest before the Madlanga Commission. In fact, Vorster said, shortly after he was ordered to dispose of a body in Spaarwater Dam, he told Ipid as well as the police about what happened but not much came of this.

Vorster and Van der Merwe knew each other for several months as they worked together to chase the Zama Zamas from Plastic City, an unregistered squatter camp in Brakpan.

According to Vorster, Van der Merwe did speak to him about giving evidence before the Madlanga Commission, but he only told his friend what needed to be said.

Van der Merwe told him that he had participated under duress, but he had to do it as he had no choice. “But he got it off his chest before the Commission, in which he dearly believed. He believed that now, after all these years, eventually something will be done.”

He suspected that Van der Merwe knew that something would happen to him. There are also suspicions that he knew his attackers as CCTV footage showed him talking to people outside his home seconds before he was killed. “It can be seen that he reached for his gun, but it was too late.”

Speaking about his friend’s death, Vorster said it is like losing a brother. “I am broken".  He did not want to divulge much about Van der Merwe’s family, other than to say that they are struggling to cope with his death. 

Vorster concluded that he spoke to his friend a few days before his death, as they were discussing another Zama Zama operation.

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