Police have arrested a suspect believed to be the gunman behind the murder of Marius van der Merwe, also known as Witness D.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said police made the arrest on Saturday, March 14, in Johannesburg after investigators gathered what she described as overwhelming evidence.
She said the investigating team obtained a J50 warrant of arrest earlier this week before moving in on the suspect.
“The Task Team established to investigate cases emanating from the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry have registered their first breakthrough with the arrest of a suspect believed to be the shooter in the Marius Van Der Merwe (Witness D) murder case.”
Mathe added that the vehicle believed to have been used on the day Witness D was murdered has also been seized as part of the investigation.
Marius van der Merwe, known during the Madlanga Commission proceedings as Witness D, was gunned down on the evening of December 2025 outside his home in Brakpan on the East Rand. The former Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department officer and security company owner had recently testified before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, where he made explosive allegations about corruption and a police cover-up.
Van der Merwe told the commission that suspended EMPD acting chief Julius Mkhwanazi had allegedly instructed him to dispose of the body of a suspect who died after being tortured during an interrogation by law-enforcement officials.
The specialised task team was established by National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola on the instruction of the President to probe cases arising from the commission and took over the investigations shortly after its formation.
Mathe also revealed that officers were still on the ground conducting search and seizure operations at various identified addresses of the suspect.
The suspect is expected to make his first appearance before the Brakpan Magistrates' Court on Monday, March 16.
Meanwhile, Masemola has applauded the team for moving swiftly in securing a breakthrough in the case.
The Star
masabata.mkwananzi@inl.co.za