‘Your lives are at risk’: Witness D cautioned Ipid investigators during Brakpan murder probe

Senior Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) investigator Nomsa Masuku has described the dangers of investigating cases involving law enforcement officers.

Masuku returned to the Madlanga commission on Thursday, where she emotionally detailed what she described as occupational hazards.

She was one of the three investigators into the murder of Emmanuel Mbhense, whose body was reportedly dumped in a lake at the alleged instruction of suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi.

In November 2025, Marius van der Merwe, also known as Witness D, testified that Mbhense had allegedly been tortured and killed by a group of law enforcement officers and private security personnel in Brakpan in April 2022.

Mbhense’s body, reportedly killed by blunt force trauma to the head, was then dumped in a Germiston lake.

Last week, the Ipid confirmed that the investigation had finally been completed and that the case docket had been handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

However, it was not without difficulty.

Of the 12 persons of interest in the case, eight are alive, while three, including Van der Merwe, were killed execution-style. Former police reservist, Wiandre Pretorius, took his own life at the weekend after surviving a hit last week.

‘Slow down’

On Thursday, Masuku told the commission that after February 2023, when they began following up on suspects in the Brakpan murder case, they began receiving threats.

“I will not point to say they were coming from them, but there were threats, and I had to inform the department that I was not feeling safe, as well as the team. A number of things were happening that were unusual,” said Masuku.

“The department ran its own investigation that did not include us because we would be called for interviews every now and then. There would be visits to our homes by investigators from other departments. It would be done very quickly because the threats were escalating.

“When we were protected, we felt a bit at ease, but still, it was not easy because the protection was not moving around with us. We had to continue working.”

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Witness D somehow always knew what the Ipid investigators were up to, and would warn them.

“We had our own way of communicating with Marius that we had agreed on. When we made a move, we would not tell him that we were now making a move; we would not notify him. But he would come back to us and say, ‘Slow down; your lives are at risk’.

“We would listen to him because he had warned us as to who we were dealing with. Our lives were at risk.”

Ipid investigator on threats

An emotional Masuku attempted to recount the number of life-threatening incidents she experienced in the line of duty, highlighting two shooting incidents.

“In December 2024, my vehicle was shot at. I was driving on N17 in the Springs area with my family. I’m not saying it’s them [Brakpan murder suspects], but those were the threats coming to us,” she said.

“The reason I keep saying I can’t confirm it’s them is that there are many sensitive cases I am working on. It’s rare that there would be a sensitive case like murder against law enforcers, that there won’t be threats coming to your side, because they will know what’s coming when you’re busy with investigations.”

She said she has been made aware of attempts on her life.

“They [law enforcers] would arrange a hitman, and someone in the midst of the arrangements who knew me would call me and warn me.”

In another incident, her son was shot and is now wheelchair bound.

“When my son was shot, he was the one driving me around trying to protect me. They shot him, maybe for me to feel the pain, or maybe because they did not know whether he had a gun. It was as if they thought that if they eliminated him, then I would be left alone.

“We thank God he did not pass, but his life changed from that day because he was wheelchair bound. But thank you to the Lord that he can try to walk now.”

‘We will not stop’

Masuku also recounted an incident where she was attending a bail application of accused police officers, and she bravely approached their colleagues, showed them her home address and dared them to come for her and her family.

“I was brave when I approached them, but afterwards, I asked myself what would happen if they really came to my home,” she said.

Despite the dangers she faces on a daily basis, Masuku said she would not stop.

“It did not stop me from performing my duties. I just wanted South Africa to know that if they see delays when we do cases like these, it’s not easy,” she said.

“We soldier on and continue, but South Africa will never understand what we go through. We do go through very serious threats when we do our investigations because we’re investigating the law enforcement officers who commit crimes and don’t want to be arrested. But that doesn’t stop us from doing our duties; we continue to do our duties even though we know that our lives are at risk.”