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Pretorius Dies by Suicide in Brakpan, SAPS Opens Inquest and Probes Links to Mbhense Case

Detectives are testing possible links between recent hits and the 2022 Mbhense murder network.

Overview

  • Police confirmed the 41-year-old shot himself at a Brakpan filling station on Saturday night in front of his partner, Sergeant Juan Mare Eksteen, with CCTV footage collected.
  • An inquest docket has been registered, and investigators have seized Pretorius’s firearms and cell phones for forensic examination.
  • Pretorius was a primary person of interest in the murder of Madlanga Commission witness Marius van der Merwe and had been questioned by detectives.
  • He survived an alleged attempted hit two days earlier in Boksburg, where at least 16 rounds were fired at his vehicle.
  • SAPS says it is probing whether a syndicate is eliminating members linked to the Emmanuel Mbhense case, as IPID’s probe sits with the DPP, and the president has urged stronger, more anonymous witness protections.