Slain Madlanga Commission whistleblower hailed a community hero

SLAIN former Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officer Marius van der Merwe has been described as a hero for his community.

This is how a 24-year-old Brakpan resident, who worked with  Van der Merwe described him during  a candlelight vigil on Sunday. Van der Merwe was shot multiple times in full view of his family outside their Brakpan home on Friday.

Van der Merwe recently gave testimony before the Madlanga Commission about the torture and interrogation of a Mozambican suspect at an unofficial site in Brakpan.

He alleged that a group of (Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department) EMPD officers with private security had been involved in the death of the man using methods, including tubing, regarded as torture and Van der Merwe said he was forced to dump the body into a dam.

Van der Merwe, then an EMPD member, testified that he was instructed by EMPD head Julius Mkhwanazi to dispose of the body in Spaarwater Dam, adding that he eventually reported the crime to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), known as the Hawks, and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).

Mkhwanazi denied any involvement during his own testimony at the Commission.

The young CPF member, with the words "legend" written across his left shoulder, was emotional as he described his last conversation with Van der Merwe.

"He was a hero and a legend of this community. He was a person who was always full of smiles and never looked down on anyone. He was always willing to lend a hand at any time of the day, as if he knew his day was going to be here. He protected everyone, but unfortunately, he was not able to protect himself,” the young man said, declining to be named.

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation (AKF), Defend Our Democracy, and other civil society organisations hosted a candlelight vigil in Van der Merwe's honour.

Speaking on behalf of the foundation, Neeshan Bolton called for an end to corruption, saying that without corruption, there would be no targeting of whistle-blowers.

"In a broader sense, his killing, that of Mpho Mafole and Babita Deokaran for the Tembisa Hospital corruption, is beginning to show us that there is something that is extremely rotten in Ekurhuleni. When we link this up with what has happened at Tembisa Hospital, then there needs to be a spotlight on Ekurhuleni and governance and policing issues must be focused there," Bolton said.

He said the murder of Mafole, the head of investigations at Ekurhuleni Municipality, and others illustrated the lengths to which the corrupt would go to protect their ill gotten gains.

Mafole was shot dead in July while driving on the R23 in Esselen Park, in what is reported to be a murder linked to a work-related forensic investigation into corruption and maladministration within the city.

On Van der Merwe's assassination, Bolton said this was due to his anti-corruption stance, both at the EMPD and on illegal mining in the area of Ekurhuleni.

"Mr Van Der Merwe, as you know, had given testimony at the Madlanga Commission in which he exposed corruption and some wrongdoing in the EPMD. He has also been active in dealing with illegal mining in the area. Either one of those could have led to his death, which is why the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation wants to do whatever we can to show solidarity with him and his family," he added.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za