Three suspects identified as pursuit for Van der Merwe's killers heats up

FOLLOWING the murder of Witness D at the Madlanga Commission, Marius van der Merwe, last week Friday, police have confirmed that three people of interest have been identified and one has been brought in for questioning.

- JONISAYI MAROMO AND SE-ANNE RALL

National Police Commissioner Gen. Fannie Masemola told the media after a walkabout in Saulsville yesterday that the investigation team is optimistic that a breakthrough in the case will occur soon.

Affectionately known as “Vlam”, van der Merwe, he was gunned down in a hit in Brakpan in full view of his wife and children. Three weeks ago, van der Merwe implicated Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) Brigadier Julius Mkhwanazi in wrongdoing, claiming that Mkhwanazi ordered him to cover up a murder of a suspect at the hands of EMPD and SAPS officers.

CCTV footage that has since emerged from Friday night's shooting shows van der Merwe talking to the men believed to be behind the assassination.

The suspects fled in a white Nissan NP200 bakkie with a canopy.

Police released a statement yesterday, saying that a white Chevrolet bakkie that was abandoned in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, fits the description of the vehicle that they have been looking for.