The trail of blood keeps getting longer. Wiandre Pretorius became the fourth person connected to the Emmanuel Mbense murder case to die in just three years. He took his own life at an Astron Energy filling station in Brakpan on Saturday night. He was 41 years old. Just days earlier, gunmen had fired 16 bullets at his vehicle outside his home in Boksburg. He survived that attack. But on Saturday, in the presence of his partner, SAPS Sergeant Juan-Mare Eksteen, Pretorius shot himself with a 9mm handgun. Workers at the petrol station cleaned up the scene on Sunday morning, using hosepipes and sand to wash away the blood while members of the public walked past.
Pretorius was not just any ordinary person. He was a police informant. He was also a former SAPS reservist who allegedly presented himself as a police officer. And according to testimony at the Madlanga Commission, he was directly involved in the torture and murder of Emmanuel Mbense in April 2022. Marius “Vlam” van der Merwe, known as Witness D, accused Pretorius by name during his testimony last year. Van der Merwe described in horrifying detail how Mbense was tortured at a house in Sallies Village near the Vulcania Industrial Complex. He said Pretorius participated in “tubing” Mbense by placing a plastic bag over his head. Mbense died during the ordeal. Van der Merwe claimed he was later instructed by Pretorius to dump the body in Duduza Dam.
Emmanuel Mbense was a 51-year-old father of five from Brakpan. He was murdered on April 15, 2022. His body was found the next day in Duduza Dam near Nigel. His car keys and driver’s license were still in his pocket. His death certificate listed blunt force trauma to the head as the cause of death. For more than three years, his family pleaded with authorities for answers. They eventually turned to AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit for help. The truth only began to emerge when Van der Merwe testified at the Madlanga Commission. His testimony helped the family understand what happened to their loved one.
But Van der Merwe did not live long after revealing those secrets. He was gunned down outside his home in Brakpan in December 2025, just weeks after testifying. His murder raised immediate concerns about witness safety. President Cyril Ramaphosa called for better protection for whistleblowers. The Madlanga Commission offered witness protection programs. But the violence did not stop. Now Pretorius is dead too. And police say he was a person of interest in Van der Merwe’s murder.
SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed that Pretorius was the first person questioned after Van der Merwe was killed. Police seized his cellphones and firearms. Those items are still in custody. The investigation into Van der Merwe’s death is at an advanced stage, according to Mathe. But now there is a bigger question. Are people linked to Mbense’s murder being systematically silenced?
Mathe revealed that police and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate identified 12 persons of interest in Mbense’s murder. Of those 12, four are now dead. Pretorius died by suicide on Saturday. Van der Merwe was assassinated in December. Another person of interest was killed at his home in October 2025. And the first killing happened at a filling station in March 2023. That leaves eight people still alive. The pattern is impossible to ignore.
Mathe said detectives are now investigating whether a criminal syndicate is eliminating members to cover up the crime. “Are we dealing with a syndicate that is eliminating each other in terms of their role and involvement in the murder of Emmanuel Mbense? That is the aspect that we are looking at,” she told reporters. The timing of Pretorius’s death is also suspicious. It happened just days after IPID finalized its investigation into Mbense’s murder and submitted the docket to the National Prosecuting Authority. Arrests are imminent, according to police. Two serving SAPS members have already been suspended in connection with the case.
AfriForum prosecutor Barry Bateman made it clear that Pretorius was not just “mentioned” at the commission. He was directly accused by Van der Merwe of being involved in torture and murder. That makes his death even more troubling. Was he killed to keep him quiet? Or did he take his own life because he knew he was about to be arrested? The simple truth is that we may never know. What we do know is that Emmanuel Mbense’s family is still waiting for justice. Four people connected to his murder are now dead. Eight more remain alive. And police are racing against time to make arrests before the body count rises again.
