Witness D’s murder, kidnappings, threats expand sinister web around SA police capture hearings

Sinister cases, now ranging from a murder to a death threat and kidnappings, are piling up around South Africa’s parallel hearings that are investigating accusations that a drug cartel has infiltrated law enforcement and politics.

The incidents together underscore how emboldened criminals have become.

They also expose the dangers and gritty realities that underpin the law enforcement scandal and other types of deep-rooted organised crime across the country.

Two hearings – the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and Parliament’s ad hoc committee – are investigating the cartel infiltration accusations, which form the core of the scandal.

In the latest incident, Marius van der Merwe, a previous Madlanga Commission witness, was murdered outside his Brakpan home in Gauteng on the evening of Friday, 5 December 2025.

He was fatally shot.

Over the weekend, the Madlanga Commission and the “natjoints’ structure working with it issued a statement saying the commission’s security would be bolstered.

Last month, when Van Wyk testified before the Madlanga Commission, as a security measure he was identified simply as Witness D.

A former Ekurhuleni metro police officer, he had detailed to the commission his role in an alleged 2022 cover-up involving the torture and murder of a robbery suspect. He said he had been tasked with the disposal of the body.

Read more: Ekurhuleni officials allegedly protected metro police boss Julius Mkhwanazi and his ‘rogue unit’ for years

Among those he implicated was suspended Ekurhuleni metro police chief Julius Mkhwanazi, who testified before the Madlanga Commission last week, days before Van Der Merwe was killed.

Van Der Merwe was the director of a security company that was involved in cracking down on illegal mining – there are some suspicions that his killing was linked to that.

Whatever the motive, his murder now sits atop a growing pile of sinister cases and allegations connected with the Madlanga Commission and Parliament’s ad hoc committee.

MP ‘kidnapped and robbed’

A central focus of both hearings is organised crime suspect Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.

He has essentially been accused of having dodgy relationships with police officials and of being a member of a cartel known as the Big Five.

Matlala is detained in Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru Prison because he faces other criminal charges, including attempted murder.

Parliament’s ad hoc committee, which usually sits in Cape Town, held its proceedings at the prison late last month when he testified before it, starting on 26 November.

Among those present for Matlala’s testimony was the MK party’s Vusi Shongwe, an alternate member of the ad hoc committee. (Alternate members can stand in when full members are absent.)

He was targeted after the first day of Matlala’s testimony.

MK party chief whip Colleen Makhubele wrote to National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza, saying that Shongwe and a second person were abducted on the evening of 26 November.

This suggests he was kidnapped after Matlala’s first ad hoc committee testimony, proceedings that were livestreamed from Kgosi Mampuru Prison and therefore publicly accessible.

Makhubule wrote: “During the incident, the kidnappers confiscated all three of [Shongwe’s] cellphones, issued threats and coerced him into paying a substantial sum of money.

“[…] This incident underscores the urgent need for enhanced security measures to ensure the safety and well-being of all members of the ad hoc committee.

“Any failures to address these threats not only endangers our members but also exposes Parliament to legal and financial consequences.”

MK PARTY STATEMENT DEMANDING URGENT AND SECURITY IN LIGHT OF THE SAFETY CONCERNS OF THE SAFETY CONCERNS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE AD-HOC COMMITTEE. @MkhontoweSizwex @MkhontoweSizwex pic.twitter.com/AWmjgty96H

— Hon. Colleen Makhubele MP (@ColleenMakhub) November 28, 2025

Makhubele said the kidnapping had been reported to the Tembisa police.

A Gauteng police spokesperson previously confirmed to other publications that a hijacking and kidnapping case was opened.

Daily Maverick tried for an update this weekend, but was unsuccessful.

‘Other threats’

Last Tuesday, on 2 December, Parliament issued a statement, seemingly in partial response to the Shongwe kidnapping case.

It said it was concerned about intimidation and threats against its members.

“While the latest outcry has emerged during the processes of the ad hoc committee, similar threats have also been made against Members of [the Standing Committee on Public Accounts] and others during oversight activities,” it said.

Earlier this year, in August, Parliament’s police committee chair Ian Cameron and fellow DA MPs Nicholas Gotsell and Lisa-Maré Schickerling were attacked.

They had been on their way to the airport from an oversight visit at Cape Town’s Philippi police training academy when three suspects used bricks to smash the windows of the car they were in.

Cameron and Gotsell were injured. Police reportedly arrested three suspects.

Parliament, in its statement last week, said it trusted that the police would investigate cases and deal with them “expeditiously” when members reported crimes to it.

“Where necessary, the Secretary to Parliament will engage the National Commissioner for updates and to ensure that these matters receive appropriate attention,” its statement said.

‘Lying crook’

There have been other incidents with ties to the law enforcement scandal.

Last month, sidelined police minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, testified before the ad hoc committee.

During the live-streamed proceedings, he alleged that while he had been eating during a break, he received a message from forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan, who was among those Nkabinde had testified about.

The message, as alleged by Nkabinde to MPs, said: “Get ready, you lying crook. I am going to make sure you spend some years in prison. […] Now you will pay for your crimes, guaranteed.”

This suggested that Nkabinde had been intimidated while in the witness seat in Parliament.

It was decided that Parliament’s legal services department would deal with the matter.

O’Sullivan, who is yet to testify before the ad hoc committee and provide his full version of events, reportedly lodged perjury complaints against Nkabinde, whom he accused of lying under oath.

American spy claims and French hotel death

In another incident last month, the car of Brown Mogotsi – who some police officers alleged was a middleman between “Cat” Matlala and the police ministry – was shot at in Vosloorus.

Mogotsi was not hurt.

While some suspicions did the rounds that the incident had been staged, police launched an investigation.

[WATCH]
SAPS Spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe says Brown Mogotsi has not honoured any appointment with the police since October 16th. pic.twitter.com/qEqMMosOTW

— SABC News (@SABCNews) November 4, 2025

Mogotsi subsequently testified at the Madlanga Commission, where he said he was a Crime Intelligence informant and agent.

He also accused KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi of having been recruited by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Mkhwanazi initially sparked what has developed into the unprecedented law enforcement scandal. In July, he was the first to publicly detail accusations that a cartel had infiltrated the country’s criminal justice system and politics.

Mogotsi’s other accusations before the Madlanga Commission last month included that he spoke to the former police minister who became ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, about Mkhwanazi’s supposed CIA ties.

(For his part, Mkhwanazi testified at the Madlanga Commission that Mthethwa had interfered in high-level policing matters.)

The communication between Mogotsi and Mthethwa about Mkhwanazi and the CIA allegedly happened in August 2025. The following month, Mthethwa was found dead in Paris.

He may have jumped to his death from the 22nd floor of a hotel.

‘Body bags’ and another kidnap case

Meanwhile, Mogotsi’s claim that he was a Crime Intelligence agent is loaded.

This is because South Africa’s Crime Intelligence unit has for years courted controversy involving accusations of slush fund looting and infighting.

Earlier this year, national head of Crime Intelligence Dumisani Khumalo became part of those controversies when he was arrested along with six colleagues over allegations of an irregular appointment.

They denied wrongdoing.

Read more: Andrea Johnson rejects ‘Witch-Hunt’ claims as policing scandal exposes deep rifts

Based on what emerged in the Madlanga Commission and Parliament’s ad hoc committee, some police officers were of the view that Khumalo was effectively framed to derail critical Crime Intelligence investigations.

This, in turn, would have protected the suspects that those investigations were focused on.

Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) head Andrea Johnson also fits in here.

She testified at Parliament’s ad hoc committee last month.

Idac carried out the now-controversial Crime Intelligence arrests, including that of Khumalo, earlier this year (which some police said was part of a plot to derail investigations).

Johnson told the ad hoc committee that she had received a death threat in relation to the Crime Intelligence arrests.

It said, in part: “Mrs IDAC… You going to wish you did not **** with us. Get body bags ready.”

Two days after her testimony, on 8 November, Idac announced that its investigations head, Matthews Sesoko, had been kidnapped, robbed, assaulted and released in Gauteng.

His laptop and cellphone had been stolen.

“While the [National Prosecuting Authority overseeing Idac] is wary of making any speculation on the motive behind such horrific action and whether it is related to his work, the incident and its timing reflect the possible dangers in this space,” Idac spokesperson Henry Mamothame said at the time.

Whistleblowers vs criminals

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday reacted to the Friday evening murder of Madlanga Commission witness Van Der Merwe.

“Amid this trauma we must remain resolute to end corruption and bring to justice those who have done wrong and are plotting to do more,” Ramaphosa said.

“As government, we will redouble our efforts to protect whistleblowers, including witnesses before the Madlanga Commission and the Commission itself, as they serve the nation with bravery in the face of criminal threats.”

A week before Van Der Merwe’s murder, acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia, speaking at the release of the country’s latest crime statistics, said State Capture continued in different forms.

He voiced concerns about political interference.

“When the police act with integrity, competence and respect for the law, communities can feel safe, and victims and whistleblowers gain the confidence to report on crime,” Cachalia said.

But now, with Van Der Merwe’s killing adding to the several sinister issues around the Madlanga Commission and ad hoc inquiry, it seems as if criminals and colluders have stolen the “bravery” and the “confidence” that one would hope whistleblowers feel. DM