Johannesburg – Police reservist Wiandre Pretorius has taken his own life just days after surviving what was widely reported as an attempted hit.
The former Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) official shot himself at a fuel filling station in Brakpan on Saturday, 7 February 2026.
Pretorius was implicated in testimony given by Marius van der Merwe (Witness D) at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating allegations of police misconduct and corruption.
Van der Merwe accused Pretorius of being part of a group of EMPD officials involved in the alleged torture and killing of a crime suspect named Tubing Mbhense during an interrogation in 2022, after which the body was dumped in Germiston Lake.
Van der Merwe was shot and killed outside his home in Brakpan in December 2025, shortly after his testimony.
Pretorius, who survived an apparent assassination attempt when his vehicle was shot at 16 times in Boksburg a few days ago, took his own life.
Reports from the scene said Pretorius shot himself in front of his partner, Juan- Mare Eksteen, a police sergeant.
She was also named at the Madlanga Commission.
Meanwhile, police have confirmed that an inquest docket has been registered after a 41-year-old man allegedly shot and killed himself at a filling station in Brakpan.
“All role players, including police detectives and forensic experts, attended the crime scene. This matter is under investigation,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.
