Former Special Task Force member Matipandile Sotheni appeared in the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 18 May 2026, for a formal bail application, as shocking new details emerged about the murder of Marius van der Merwe, better known as Witness D from the Madlanga Commission.
According to evidence presented in court, Sotheni admitted he traveled to Brakpan multiple times in the days leading up to Witness D’s assassination, including on the day he was gunned down outside his home in December 2025.
The court heard that Sotheni drove around in a black Suzuki Swift registered to his girlfriend, the same vehicle prosecutors say Witness D had warned friends about shortly before his death. In WhatsApp messages read in court, Witness D allegedly said the vehicle had been repeatedly spotted near his home.
But one of the most chilling revelations involved conversations between Sotheni and former police reservist Wiandre Pretorius.
Sotheni told the court that Pretorius appeared stressed after his name surfaced during the Madlanga Commission hearings and repeatedly wanted to meet face-to-face in Brakpan. During one of those meetings, Sotheni claims Pretorius asked whether he knew anyone who could “help him with his problem”, something Sotheni said he understood to mean Pretorius wanted Witness D killed.
The state also revealed that cellphone records allegedly show both Sotheni and Pretorius switched off their phones at the same time around the period of the murder, something investigators believe may have been done deliberately to conceal their movements.
Prosecutors further claimed ballistic analysis linked cartridge cases recovered at the murder scene to a firearm allegedly issued to Sotheni.
During searches at Sotheni’s home, police say they discovered ammunition, rifle cartridges, magazines, tactical equipment, and Special Task Force uniforms.
The state believes Witness D was targeted after testifying before the Madlanga Commission about alleged criminal networks and the murder of Emmanuel Mbense.
Pretorius, who was later shot at outside his Boksburg home, died by suicide in February 2026, just days after surviving the attack.
The case against Sotheni has been postponed to 21 May for a further bail application