Leanne van der Merwe, widow of Madlanga commission of inquiry witness Marius “Vlam” van der Merwe, has penned heartfelt tributes to her late husband, who was murdered outside their Brakpan home on Friday.
Marius, a security company owner and former Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) officer who was a key witness at the inquiry, was fatally shot in front of Leanne and their two young children. The gunmen attacked when he got out of his vehicle to open the gate at their home, which was on a manual setting.
His evidence as Witness D implicated suspended EMPD acting chief Brig Julius Mkhwanazi in the 2022 murder of a robbery suspect in Brakpan. Van der Merwe alleged Mkhwanazi had ordered him to dispose of the body as part of a cover-up.
The 41-year-old previously escaped two assassination attempts. The first attempt took place months ago at Plastic City during a major operation targeting illegal miners. The second attempt occurred two weeks ago at the same location when a bullet intended for him hit a rock and grazed his forehead.
Marius succumbed to the attack on Friday, leaving his family devastated.
Leanne has taken to TikTok, sharing videos and pictures of Marius and their children and expressing the unbearable difficulty of accepting her new reality. Her posts quickly went viral, attracting more than a million views and an outpouring of support from social media users.
In one post featuring cherished family memories, Leanne grappled with her loss.
“How do I say goodbye? How do I carry on never seeing you again? I love you forever babe, always.”
@_lea_gray_ollie How do I say goodbye? How do I carry on never seeing you again? 😭😭😭😭😭😭 I love you forever babe, always!! #QRFtaskteam #vlam #marius ♬ som original - maya🤍
Another tribute read: “I love you forever my babe. I don’t know how to be without you. Something in the heavens tells me we’ll be together again,” she wrote, accompanied by crying and heartbroken emojis.
In a third post, Leanne shared the profound pain of her future without him.
“I cling to our memories, it’s all I can do now. I don’t know how I’m going to get through this babe. How am I going to live knowing I’ll never hear you say you love me, never get another hug, never get a complaint for not letting you know I’m at work safe. It’s just so unfair.”
Social media users have responded with messages of condolence, grief and a resounding call for justice to be served.
Police investigations are ongoing. On Monday national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola revealed three people have been identified as “persons of interest”, with one taken in for questioning. A getaway car believed to have been used by the perpetrators was found abandoned in Alexandra.
Masemola said: “We are closing in on the suspects as our investigations reach a very advanced and sensitive stage.”
TimesLIVE
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