Wiandre Pretorius, the police reservist who took his own life last month, is alleged to have been the driver for Matipandile Sotheni, who is believed to have shot dead the Madlanga commission’s Witness D.
This emerged on Monday when Sotheni appeared in the Brakpan magistrate’s court in connection with Witness D’s murder.
Sotheni, a former member of the SAPS special task team, was arrested on Saturday and charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of unlawful ammunition in connection with the murder of Witness D, whose real name was Marius Van Der Merwe.
Speaking outside court, police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said Pretorius was linked to the murder of Witness D.
“According to our investigation the gunman who shot Witness D, shot him from a [moving] car and that can only be possible if you have a highly trained gunmen. He shot two shots and Witness D was killed by one shot.
“We believe that the driver of that vehicle [Suzuki Swift] that evening died by suicide in February and Sotheni was the shooter,” she said.
She added that the Suzuki Swift followed Witness D for some time from the end of November till December 5, when he was finally ambushed outside his house.
“We unfortunately did find out that the Suzuki belongs to the girlfriend of Sotheni,” she said.
According to police, the suspects were linked through tracker and cellphone data.
Mathe also added that at the time of Sotheni’s arrest, he was a bodyguard for a wealthy family in Houghton, Johannesburg.
Witness D previously testified at the commission in camera. In his evidence he implicated suspended Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi in a cover-up of the murder of Emmanuel Mbhense.
He said that after members of the SAPS and EMPD tortured Mbhense to death during an interrogation, Mkhwanazi was called and instructed them to dump the body in a mine shaft or river.
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