The death of Wiandre Pretorius, a man implicated in testimony before South Africa’s Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into police corruption, has intensified concerns over witness safety and violence linked to the country’s troubled law-enforcement system.
Pretorius died by apparent suicide on Saturday at a petrol station in Brakpan, east of Johannesburg, according to South African police and broadcaster eNCA. His death came just days after he survived a targeted shooting outside his home in Boksburg, in Gauteng Province, where gunmen fired at least 16 shots into his vehicle.
Police said Pretorius was in the presence of his partner, Juan-Mare Eksteen, a serving South African Police Service (SAPS) sergeant, at the time of his death. Authorities are investigating but have indicated that preliminary findings point to suicide.
The incident adds to a growing trail of violence surrounding the Madlanga Commission, which is examining allegations of corruption, unlawful operations and political interference within South Africa’s policing agencies, with a particular focus on Gauteng.
Pretorius was named in evidence given in November 2025 by Marius “Vlam” van der Merwe — known publicly as Witness D — a former Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) officer who testified off-camera before the commission.
Van der Merwe alleged that Pretorius played a role in the 2022 death of Emmanuel Mbhense, a Brakpan resident suspected of robbery. According to the testimony, Pretorius allegedly presented himself as a SAPS member during an unauthorised interrogation in which Mbhense was suffocated with a plastic bag in an attempt to extract information.
Mbhense later died. Van der Merwe told the commission that the body was dumped in a dam near Germiston and that he acted under threats to his life.
Gauteng Police Commissioner Tommy Mthombeni later confirmed that Pretorius was not a serving SAPS officer, despite claims made during the operation.
The Madlanga Commission has been rocked by a series of violent incidents linked to its proceedings.
In December 2025, Witness D was assassinated outside his home in Brakpan, shot dead in front of his family. President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the killing as “heinous” and called for stronger protection for witnesses involved in sensitive investigations.
On 5 February 2026, Pretorius survived an apparent assassination attempt in Van Dyk Park, Boksburg, when gunmen opened fire as he arrived home. Police later recovered a vehicle believed to be connected to the attack in Alexandra township.
Two days later, Pretorius was dead.
The rapid succession of events has fuelled fears of intimidation and retaliation connected to testimony before the commission, raising broader questions about accountability and witness protection in South Africa’s criminal-justice system.
The Madlanga Commission, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, is investigating allegations involving SAPS, the EMPD, private security firms and politically connected figures in Gauteng.
Commission representatives have reiterated commitments to protecting witnesses, while police say investigations into both the assassination attempt and Pretorius’s death are ongoing.
The family of Emmanuel Mbhense, who learned of the circumstances surrounding his death through the commission’s hearings, has pursued justice through legal channels after years of stalled investigations. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate has referred the matter to the National Prosecuting Authority.
Authorities have stressed that all allegations remain subject to due legal process.
As South Africa grapples with deep public mistrust in law enforcement, Pretorius’s death underscores the risks facing those linked to high-profile corruption inquiries — and the fragile state of witness protection in one of the country’s most significant policing investigations.