Delays in a high-profile murder investigation have raised concerns about witness protection, accountability and institutional failure within Ipid.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is under fire after the assassination of private security boss and whistle-blower Marius van der Merwe.
There are questions about whether his death could have been averted had the police watchdog acted swiftly.
His explosive testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry revived questions about the watchdog’s failure to act on a 2022 murder case it has handled for three years with no resolution.
Ipid has been investigating the alleged murder of 51-year-old Emmanuel Mbense on 15 April, 2022.
His body was discovered the following day at Duduza Dam in Nigel, with his car keys and drivers’ licence in his pocket.
According to AfriForum, the death certificate recorded the cause of Mbense’s death as blunt force trauma to the head.
Alleged police involvement and stalled progress
Despite the severity of the case and the direct implication of several Ekurhuleni metro police officers, the Ipid investigation seemingly stalled, yielding no arrests and no updates to the family.
On the morning of Van der Merwe’s testimony at the Madlanga commission, an Ipid investigator allegedly warned the family that details about Mbense’s death would emerge.
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Van der Merwe, who testified as Witness D to protect his identity, implicated four individuals in Mbense’s killing and admitted to disposing of the body in the dam.
Whistle-blower targeted after testimony
On 5 December, just days after his evidence, he was gunned down in the driveway of his Brakpan home. This followed an earlier attempted hit in September, after which he reported being followed.
Police said the Chevrolet bakkie used in the killing was found abandoned in Alexandra.
As head of the QRF Task Team, a private security unit active in anti-illegal mining operations across the East Rand, Van der Merwe had vowed to expose politically connected figures involved in the zama zama networks.
Calls for accountability and swift action
Forum for SA leader Tebogo Mashilompane said Ipid’s failure to conclude the Mbense case may have directly contributed to Van der Merwe’s vulnerability.
“Their slowness made him an easy target. Why did Ipid act so slow? Were they trying to protect those involved?” he asked. He called for an investigation into the conduct of those tasked with investigating the case.
Mbense’s family, who only learned of the full circumstances of his death during Van der Merwe’s testimony, said they feel betrayed because they were repeatedly assured arrests were imminent.
The years of no action has left them no choice but to turn to AfriForum’s private prosecution unit.
ALSO READ: Not the first time hitmen tried to kill Madlanga Commission witness Marius van der Merwe
AfriForum questions Ipid’s conduct
Advocate Gerrie Nel, head of the unit, has accused Ipid of shielding implicated parties and warned that Van der Merwe’s killing highlights the consequences of institutional inertia.
“The failure to decisively deal with this investigation after years of probing is deplorable,” he wrote to Ipid head Jennifer Ntlatseng.
Nel also questioned why suspects were not arrested and why a potential Section 204 witness like Van der Merwe was not secured.
A Section 204 witness is an accomplice or co-offender who testifies for the state against other accused individuals in exchange for potential immunity from prosecution.
AfriForum’s unit is in possession of pictures of the deceased’s trashed bedroom and the bed on which the deceased was allegedly tortured.
“The rest show how the family found the house. The police trashed the place,” AfriForum spokesperson Barry Bateman said.
He said Van der Merwe’s public testimony, whether as a cooperating witness or accused, should have been followed by arrests and court processes in which witness protection measures could be enforced.
Lizzy Suping, Ipid spokesperson, said the investigation of the case was in its final stages.
