Wiandre Pretorius, one of the people implicated at the Madlanga Commission, died of suicide in Brakpan on Saturday morning, right in front of his partner, a police sergeant.
The incident happened days after Pretorius survived an attempted hit outside in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. At the time, on Thursday, he was approached by three unknown men who opened fire on him outside a house. But on Saturday, the 7th of February, he ended his own life.
Police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, confirmed an investigation is underway to determine the circumstances surrounding his death.
Pretorius’ death is another of the many shocking events that have taken place since the resumption of the Madlanga Commission on 26 January 2026.
The commission wrapped up proceedings on 5 December, 2025 with the testimony of suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. Since then, there have been explosive allegations and revelations from witnesses at the commission and outside it; much has taken place.
There are some suspicious circumstances surrounding Pretorius’ death
The police have said Pretorius was a person of interest in the murder of Marius van der Merwe, who was known as Witness D at the commission. Van der Merwe was shot outside his home in Brakpan in December 2025.
During Witness D’s testimony, Van der Merwe implicated Pretorius in relation to corruption relating to the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department. Van der Merwe had said that Pretorius was present when a man was tubed to death, and his body was thrown in a dam in April 2022.
The man in question is Emmanuel Mbense, who was murdered in 2022, allegedly by police officers.
Brigadier Mathe said that four of the 12 people named as persons of interest in that killing are now dead. They are Pretorius and Witness D, Constable Raymond Mzwakhe Khoza. and police informant Jaco Hanekom. Khoza was killed outside his home in October 2025, while Hanekom was killed in 2022 after exposing a criminal syndicate.
Then there’s the widening of Cat Matlala’s web within the police system
Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala has been mentioned the most during the commission. Matlala is allegedly part of the Big Five’, a powerful criminal cartel allegedly responsible for infiltrating parts of South Africa’s justice system.
Check out our previous explainer on him here.
Matlala was named as being an integral part of the sophisticated criminal syndicate which had infiltrated the police, prosecutors, intelligence services, politicians, and even the judiciary. The unfolding picture connecting Matlala to many within the police has continued during the 2026 testimonies.
Speaking to explain, David Bruce, an independent researcher and Institute for Security Studies consultant on policing and public security, said, “The one person whose name you’re clearly aware of and has somehow emerged as one of the most central figures in the whole story that is being unpacked or revealed by the commission process is (Cat) Matlala.”
Bruce noted that two of the main witnesses who have testified in recent weeks are connected to Matlala in different ways. This demonstrates the degree to which Matlala developed a multifaceted network within the policing system.
KZN Hawks Boss Senona talks about his “brother” Matlala
During the first week of the resumption, Major-General Lesetja Senona, head of the Hawks in KwaZulu-Natal, testified. Senona defended his close relationship with Matlala, describing Matlala as a “brother”.
During his testimony, Senona admitted to sending Matlala messages like “take them on brother” after SAPS ended Matlala’s R360 million health contract over irregularities.
Senona was not the only police officer to reveal his ties to Matlala.
Ozempicgate: Brigadier Rachel Matjeng
The testimony of Brigadier Rachel Matjeng, SAPS Section Head of Quality Management, caused massive waves. Matjeng took to the stand on Thursday, 5 February. She was questioned for her alleged involvement in the above-mentioned R360 million SAPS contract. Matjeng revealed that she was sad that Matlala lost the health contract, which was meant to “provide medical and wellness services to the SAPS”.
Furthermore, Matjeng admitted to having an on-and-off romantic relationship with Matlala. During her testimony, she confirmed that he financed her personal lifestyle, including buying her Ozempic through his MedicCare24 company.
“In some ways, much of what has happened in the last few weeks is about various facets of Matlala’s relationship to senior police, from a deputy national commissioner, to a major general who is head of the KZN Hawks, and a Brigadier in an administrative office,” said Bruce.
XOXO: The Musa Khawula Connection
Controversial social media personality, Musa Khawula, was also named at the Commission. Khawula was arrested in January, 2025 on charges of Crimen Injuria, Contravention of the Cyber Crimes Act and Hate Speech.
During the commission, it was revealed that Khawula’s arrest warrant was forwarded to Cat” Matlala. Witness F testified that the arrest warrant was forwarded to Matlala, following an instruction from suspended Deputy Police Commissioner General Shadrack Sibiya.
The release of the interim report
President Cyril Ramaphosa received the interim report from the commission on 18 December 2025. While the contents haven’t been released publicly, SABC News reported that the interim report recommended to Ramaphosa that certain officials from the City of Ekurhuleni, including metro police officers, as well as certain South African police members, be investigated.
Ramaphosa said: “I’m not going to – in the end – let the Madlanga Commission report or recommendations not be implemented.”
According to the presidency, the Commission’s final report will be released to the public, but not yet, as the commission is still ongoing, and the interim report does not contain all the details.
In other news from around the commission, another task team has been set up. They have been given three months to investigate the SAPS members implicated at the commission. The team was established following a directive of the presidency, prompted by the submission of the interim commission report.
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said the members of the task team will be “carefully screened.”
The police officials probably don’t want to have another commission put in place, so they’re making sure the task team doesn’t get up to dodgy business.
Questioning the revelation so far, Bruce said, “One of the things I’m kind of struggling with is, what is the cumulative picture that’s building up? Some of it seems to be about characters who are negligent, potentially corrupt or engage in peculiar behaviour. But to what degree does it feed into a coherent picture about who the main culprits are, and what they have done?”
With the full picture yet to unfold at the commission, there’s definitely a lot more to learn as the testimonies continue. The most important question is whether there will be prosecutions and whether actions will be taken to stop the deep-seated corruption and criminality within the justice system. We’ll see.
