For three years the Mbense family has lived in agonising uncertainty, clinging to fragments of hope, pleading with authorities for answers and waking up each day not knowing how their brother, father and provider, 51-year-old Emmanuel Mbense, spent his final moments.
Now, after a chilling public disclosure at the Madlanga commission by Witness D, Marius “Vlam” van der Merwe, the family has turned to AfriForum’s private prosecution unit for justice.
Mbense was murdered on April 15 2022 at his home in Brakpan, east of Johannesburg. His body was found the next day at Duduza Dam in Nigel, with his car keys and driver’s licence in his pocket. His death certificate lists blunt-force trauma to the head as the cause of death.
But the truth about what happened that night remained buried until November this year, when the family received a call from an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) investigator warning them that details about Mbense’s death would emerge before the Madlanga commission.
They were not prepared for what followed. The testimony, delivered publicly by Van der Merwe, forced the family to relive Mbense’s final moments in a crowded hearing room, surrounded by strangers.
“We had no time to prepare ourselves emotionally,” said Mbense’s brother, Nhlanhla. “We were re-traumatised as the details unfolded. The very institutions we trusted to seek justice have failed us.”
What Vlam told the Madlanga commission
Van der Merwe, who was himself gunned down outside his Brakpan home on Friday night, testified on November 14, giving a detailed account of the night of April 15 2022.
He said he had been at home with his son when he received several calls from Cobus Janse van Rensburg, owner of Ghostguard Security, asking for help with “an operation” to “knock” the house of a suspect linked to a warehouse robbery in Brakpan.
For a long time, we lived with unanswered questions. The truth only started surfacing at the commission. Receiving such devastating news publicly has been incredibly painful
— Nhlanhla Mbense, brother of Emmanuel
He eventually agreed and went to Sallies Village, where they confronted the suspect. Van der Merwe said the man admitted involvement and was found with R500,000 in cash, a warehouse robbery case docket, SAPS forensic bags and live ammunition.
He testified that Brakpan police members, including Viandre Pretorius, took custody of the suspect. A plastic bag was placed over the man’s head, and Van der Merwe admitted to holding down his legs with a broken table leg while police tried to force a confession.
He briefly left the room, only to see officers later rushing out. When he asked if the suspect talked, he was told: “He will never talk again.”
Shortly after, Ekurhuleni metrol police (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi allegedly arrived in a dark tracksuit and instructed that the body be dumped in a mine shaft or dam. Mkhwanazi has since been suspended after an internal audit into misconduct allegations.
‘We were kept in the dark’
“For a long time, we lived with unanswered questions,” Nhlanhla said. “The truth only started surfacing at the commission. Receiving such devastating news publicly has been incredibly painful.”
Nhlanhla said he repeatedly approached the SAPS and Ipid over the years and was consistently told the investigation was progressing and arrests were imminent.
The family turned to AfriForum’s private prosecution unit four days after Van der Merwe’s testimony. In an almost immediate response, an Ipid investigator phoned again, giving the same assurance: the case was “almost complete” and arrests were coming.
Gerrie Nel: ‘This looks like shielding of suspects’
In a letter to Ipid head Jennifer Ntlatseng, AfriForum’s private prosecution unit head advocate Gerrie Nel said the conduct of investigators suggested that implicated individuals may have been shielded from scrutiny.
“We write this letter at a time when it appears that almost all law enforcement agencies’ alleged levels of incompetence and criminal conduct can no longer be kept secret,” Nel wrote.
“We view this as a stratagem to conceal from the public the extent of criminal activity within law enforcement, as well as the ineffectiveness, if not complicity, of the bodies meant to police them.”
Nel said multiple commissions and parliamentary processes had exposed a criminal justice system that repeatedly fails to execute credible investigations or secure prosecutions.
He said the apparent assassination of Van der Merwe, who openly implicated himself and others, underscored the urgency of the matter.
He highlighted evidence from retired EMPD deputy chief Revo Spies, who testified that Van der Merwe had been identified as a potential section 204 witness.
“If correct,” Nel said, “the failure to arrest suspects and enrol the matter becomes even more pressing.”
‘We’ve lost faith in the system’ – family
Nhlanhla said Mbense supported his mother, siblings and five children.
“The handling of this case has destroyed any faith we had in the criminal justice system. Turning to AfriForum was not a decision we took lightly, but we felt abandoned. We just want accountability.”
The private prosecutions unit’s spokesperson, Barry Bateman, said the commission’s mandate is to expose criminality but the way testimony was handled may have endangered witnesses.
“It’s unclear whether Van der Merwe testified in exchange for potential indemnification. But whether he was a suspect or a witness, it’s inexplicable that he was allowed to testify publicly*, outside the criminal justice system,” Bateman said.
“Equally troubling is that Van der Merwe and others he implicated were not arrested and brought before court, where their safety could have been better managed.”
AfriForum’s private prosecution unit has asked Ipid to urgently explain delays in the case and provide a full update. The unit, now representing the family, says it will closely monitor the matter to ensure all suspects, including police officers, are held accountable.
* Van der Merwe’s face was not shown during the testimony but his voice was not disguised in broadcasts.
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