Witness D had pledged to expose state ties to corrupt mining networks
In the hours before he was killed, whistleblower and security operative Marius “Vlam” van der Merwe reached out with what may have been his final act, a voice note expressing intent to expose deeper networks behind South Africa’s illegal mining crisis.
Van der Merwe, 41, was fatally shot in Brakpan on Friday evening. Earlier that day, he contacted anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee, sharing a 62-second recording in which he expressed readiness to go public with information about alleged state-linked role players in illegal mining.
“I’d like to get my story out in public in terms of the role players from the state facilitating illegal mining,” he said in the recording. “I’ve got all the intelligence on that.”
But those alleged state links were not the only explosive thread surrounding Van der Merwe’s work.
The QRF Task Team head, had recently testified under the name “Witness D” at the Madlanga Commission, where he levelled serious allegations of corruption within the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD). His testimony forms part of an already tense and high-stakes inquiry into the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System.
Abramjee confirmed that Van der Merwe had also been seeking a sit-down interview with eNCA to reveal identities and evidence related to both illegal mining syndicates and police involvement.
“He said he was ready to identify himself and feared he could be killed soon,” Abramjee said.
Investigators are now probing whether his murder may be linked to his testimony at the commission, his knowledge of illegal mining networks, or another unknown factor entirely. No motive has been officially confirmed.
The killing has reignited urgent calls for stronger protection of whistleblowers and commission witnesses, a recurring and painful concern in South Africa’s fight against organised crime.