The 41-year-old Wiandre Pretorius is dead. The man who survived a hail of bullets just days ago has now reportedly taken his own life at a petrol station in Brakpan, on the East Rand. This news comes while the country is still trying to understand the details of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, where Pretorius was a central, though unofficial, figure. His death is not just a personal tragedy; it is a major blow to the search for truth in one of South Africa’s most disturbing torture and murder cases.
On Saturday, 07 February 2026, the South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed that an inquest docket had been opened. Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, the SAPS national spokesperson, stated: "Police confirm an inquest docket has been registered after a 41-year-old man allegedly shot and killed himself at a filling station in Brakpan on Saturday, 07 February 2025. All role players, including police detectives and forensic experts, attended the crime scene. This matter is under investigation."
The timing of this "suicide" is what makes it so hard to believe for many. Only three days earlier, on Thursday morning, Pretorius was driving his pickup truck in Van Dyk Park, Boksburg, when three gunmen opened fire. His bakkie was hit 16 times in what looked like a professional assassination attempt. He survived that hit, but he could not survive the events that followed. Reports indicate that he shot himself at a filling station in the presence of his partner, Sergeant Juan Mare Eksteen.
To understand why someone would want Wiandre Pretorius dead, we have to look at the Madlanga Commission. Pretorius was not a scheduled witness, but his name was heavy in the air. He was directly implicated by another witness, Marius van der Merwe, also known as "Witness D" or "Vlam." Van der Merwe was a confessed criminal and torturer who had decided to spill the beans. Shortly after giving his testimony, Van der Merwe was himself assassinated in Brakpan.
Before he died, Witness D made a very specific accusation. Barry Bateman, the spokesperson for AfriForum’s Private Prosecutions Unit, reminded the public of this on social media:
"Allow me to clarify something about Wiandre Pretorius. He was not just 'mentioned' at the Madlanga Commission; confessed criminal, torturer, and body dumper Marius Van der Merwe directly accused Pretorius of being involved in the torture and murder of Emmanuel Mbense."
Emmanuel Mbense’s case is at the heart of this conspiracy. It involves allegations of "apartheid-style" torture and murder by rogue law enforcement officials. Witness D had claimed that the torture was ordered by high-ranking individuals, including suspended EMPD Chief Julius Mkhwanazi. Pretorius, a police informant, was allegedly part of the team that carried out these heinous acts.
The Madlanga Commission’s spokesperson, Jeremy Michaels, tried to downplay Pretorius’s role after the first hit attempt. He told the media:
“I should clarify that Mr Pretorius was not in the sights of the commission for the moment, and he certainly had not approached the commission with information or requests for assistance with his protection. I am aware that he is the subject of an investigation by another law enforcement agency – I wouldn’t want to get into the detail of that. We are in contact with the relevant law enforcement agencies in that regard."
But even if the Commission was not ready for him, the people he knew certainly were. In the world of investigative journalism, we call this a "clean-up operation." When one witness (Witness D) is killed, and the person he implicated (Pretorius) is first targeted by hitmen and then dies by "suicide," it suggests a pattern. Someone is making sure that no one is left alive to tell the full story of what happened to Emmanuel Mbense.
President Cyril Ramaphosa himself had to speak out after the first attempt on Pretorius’s life. Speaking after a meeting with SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter, the President said: “Witnesses in high-profile cases should not be identifiable and must be better secured.”
The President’s words highlight a massive failure in our justice system. If witnesses and those implicated in high-level corruption and murder are being picked off one by one, who will ever come forward? The Madlanga Inquiry has already heard about "deep structural problems" in the SAPS forensic departments and rogue units operating like gangs.
Pretorius was often described as a "keeper of keys." As a police informant, he lived in the shadows between the law and the criminal underworld. He knew which officers were on the payroll of the drug cartels. He knew who gave the orders for the "tubing" — a horrific torture method where a plastic bag is tied over a victim's head until they suffocate. This method was used on Emmanuel Mbense before his body was tossed into a river.
The question we must ask at Celeb Gossip News is: Was Wiandre Pretorius really a man who wanted to die, or was he a man who knew too much? Surviving 16 bullets in a bakkie is a miracle. Usually, when someone survives an assassination, they are put into immediate witness protection. Instead, Pretorius ended up at a petrol station with a gun to his own head.
There is a dark theory circulating in the security clusters. It suggests that the hitmen failed to kill him on Thursday, so they used a different method. Perhaps they threatened his family. Perhaps they told him that if he did not "do the right thing," his loved ones would be next. In the world of high-stakes crime, a staged suicide is often the final chapter of a failed hit.
The Madlanga Commission is supposed to be our way of cleaning up the rot in the police service. But so far, it has been a trail of blood. We have seen Brigadier Rachel Matjeng, who allegedly had "romantic ties" to the notorious criminal "Cat" Matlala, testifying about the chaos inside the service. We have seen Witness F testifying in-camera because they are terrified for their life.
By killing the people involved, the masterminds are essentially deleting the evidence. Without Pretorius, the prosecution of those who ordered the murder of Emmanuel Mbense becomes much harder. The "hidden details" that Pretorius held are now buried with him. This is how the corrupt elite stay in power — they make sure the story ends before the truth can come out.
We will continue to follow the inquest into Pretorius’s death. The CCTV footage from the petrol station in Brakpan has been collected by the police. We want to know exactly what happened in those final moments. Was there anyone else near the car? What was said to him before he pulled the trigger?
The death of Wiandre Pretorius is a message to every other whistleblower and informant in South Africa: "You are not safe." It shows that even when the President calls for your protection, the "invisible hand" of the security cluster can still reach you. We are not just looking at a single suicide; we are looking at the death of accountability in our country.
As we dig deeper into the transcripts of the Madlanga Inquiry, we will simplify the legal games and show you the faces of the people who are really in charge. Wiandre Pretorius may be gone, but the secrets he kept are still out there, hidden in the shadows of our failing police service. We owe it to the victims like Emmanuel Mbense to keep asking the questions that Pretorius can no longer answer.
The story of the Madlanga Commission is turning into a documentary of death. From Witness D to Wiandre Pretorius, the cost of the truth is becoming too high for many to pay. But at Celeb Gossip News, we believe that the only way to stop the "clean-up" is to shine a light so bright that there is nowhere left for the killers to hide.
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