Police informer named in testimony about the April 2022 Brakpan killing · Brakpan, Ekurhuleni
Named in testimony · never testified · died 7 February 2026
Wiandre Pretorius sits at the join between two killings on this record, and he answered for neither. Marius van der Merwe, testifying on Day 33 as Witness D, named him over the death of a robbery suspect at Brakpan in April 2022 and the disposal of the body. Three weeks after that evidence van der Merwe was shot dead, and per The Citizen police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe described Pretorius as 'a primary person of interest' in that murder, one of two taken in for questioning, with his firearms and cellphones seized. On 5 February 2026 his car was hit by sixteen bullets in Boksburg in what police treated as a targeted attack, and he walked away unharmed. Two days later, on 7 February 2026, he shot himself at a filling station in Brakpan; per Mathe there had been an argument with his partner, former SAPS sergeant Juan-Mare Eksteen, who was present, and an inquest docket was opened. The state now alleges that Matipandile Sotheni, the man charged with van der Merwe's murder, conspired with Pretorius to commit it, and investigators are examining Pretorius's and Eksteen's cellphone records. He also appears on this archive's record a second time, under a different spelling: the Nyatlo affidavit the commission published names 'Vyandri Pretorius' as a person who took his own life and who is alleged to have been involved in the disposal of the body of a person tortured by police. Nothing against Pretorius was ever tested, charged to a conclusion, or decided. He is dead, he never gave evidence here, and he is presumed innocent of everything said about him.
This profile summarises testimony and evidence given on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as presented at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person.
Awaiting appearanceNo portrait on the public record yet
Their role
What the record says
Named in Witness D's evidence over the April 2022 killing
Per The Citizen, van der Merwe testified that Pretorius was involved in the death of Emmanuel Mbense, the suspect allegedly tortured and killed at Brakpan in April 2022 by law-enforcement officers and private security personnel, and whose body was dumped at a dam on what van der Merwe said were the orders of the suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi. Pretorius never appeared before the commission to answer it. Untested; he is presumed innocent.
A primary person of interest in Witness D's murder
Per The Citizen and ECR, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said Pretorius was one of two persons of interest taken in for questioning immediately after van der Merwe was killed, and described him as 'a primary person of interest'. His firearms and cellphones were seized and Mathe said the investigation was at an advanced stage. He was never charged. The state's current case, per IOL, is that Sotheni conspired with him; Sotheni denies the allegations and is presumed innocent, and the allegation against Pretorius was never tested.
The Boksburg shooting and his death
Per Mail and Guardian, eNCA and Briefly, Pretorius's car was shot at sixteen times in Boksburg on Thursday 5 February 2026 in what police believed was a targeted hit, and he was unharmed. Per News24, The Citizen and Sowetan he died two days later, on Saturday 7 February 2026, from a self-inflicted gunshot to the upper body at a filling station in Brakpan shortly before 10pm. Mathe said: 'We are told that there was an argument between himself and his wife before he pulls the trigger on himself.' An inquest docket was opened and petrol-station CCTV footage was retrieved.
The name in the Nyatlo affidavit
The affidavit the commission published in June 2026 over Major-General Feroz Khan's seized devices describes a relationship between the businessman Mohammed Sayed, Khan and 'Vyandri Pretorius', described there as a person reported to have taken his own life and alleged to have been involved in the disposal of the body of a person tortured by police. The spelling differs from the court and news record, and this archive records the variance rather than asserting the two are the same document's subject. The affidavit's allegations are untested and everyone named in it is presumed innocent.