Matipandile Sotheni

Matipandile Sotheni — Former SAPS Special Task Force

Matipandile Sotheni — ex-SAPS Special Task Force sniper; alleged triggerman in Witness D assassination (Dec 2025); bail denied (June 2026)

South African Police Service (SAPS) — Special Task Force (STF, tactical / sniper, 2010–2019); subsequent private close-protection / tobacco-industry security sector; alleged contract-killing apparatus targeting a Madlanga Commission protected witness

 

Record Source

Brakpan Regional Court bail proceedings (May–June 2026); SAPS / DPCI (Hawks) murder docket; Madlanga Commission of Inquiry record (Witness D testimony, November 2025); contemporaneous reporting by Daily Maverick, News24, TimesLIVE, EWN, The Citizen and IOL (March – June 2026)

 

Integrity Status

contested — accused denies pulling the trigger and blames a deceased co-conspirator; matter before the Brakpan Regional Court; bail denied 1 June 2026

 

Network Role

alleged hired gunman in the assassination of Madlanga Commission protected witness Marius van der Merwe (‘Witness D’); private bodyguard for a wealthy Houghton / Bedfordview employer; former elite SAPS tactical operative

 

Correlation Links

directly linked to the Witness D assassination (5 December 2025, Brakpan); to alleged co-conspirator Wiandre Pretorius (former police reservist, died by suicide February 2026); cross-referenced with the Madlanga Commission EMPD torture-killing testimony of Witness D

 

Theme

An ex-SAPS Special Task Force sniper — over R1 million in state-funded tactical training — accused of executing a protected Madlanga Commission witness in front of his family. The file holds the surveillance runs, the tampered AK-47, the synchronised phone blackouts, the 173 rounds of ammunition (some state-issued) and a bail denial that named flight risk and witness intimidation — without verdict.

Archival Testimony

“I was two streets away.”

— Matipandile Sotheni

Bail hearing testimony, Brakpan Regional Court, May–June 2026 — rejected on 1 June 2026 in light of tracker logs, ballistic match and switched-off cell phones

 

Evidence

AK-47 assault rifle with Aimpoint red-dot sight (forensic ballistic match to Gout Street cartridges; internal parts swapped to defeat digital ballistic tracing); vehicle-tracker logs on a black Suzuki Swift (surveillance of Van der Merwe’s home 29 Nov, 2 Dec 2025; run to the crime scene 5 Dec 2025); cell-phone records showing synchronised power-off with Wiandre Pretorius; 173 rounds of ammunition seized on arrest (125 R5, 31 R1, 17 9mm — some state-issued); WhatsApp warning sent by Van der Merwe with the Suzuki’s registration; Madlanga Commission Witness D testimony

 

Timeline

2005 — enlists in SAPS. 2010 — selected for the elite Special Task Force; over R1m in state-funded sniper / tactical training. 2019 — resigns; enters private close-protection and tobacco-industry security sector. November 2025 — Marius van der Merwe testifies as ‘Witness D’ at the Madlanga Commission; a black Suzuki Swift linked to Sotheni begins surveilling his Brakpan home. 29 Nov & 2 Dec 2025 — tracker logs place the Suzuki outside Van der Merwe’s home. 5 December 2025 — Van der Merwe assassinated in a drive-by shooting outside his Brakpan home in front of his family; phone records show Sotheni and Pretorius switched their devices off in unison en route. February 2026 — Wiandre Pretorius dies by suicide at an East Rand filling station while wanted as the suspected driver. 14 March 2026 — Sotheni formally arrested; AK-47 with Aimpoint sight recovered from a Bedfordview vehicle belonging to his employer; 173 rounds of ammunition seized from his home. May–June 2026 — bail hearings in the Brakpan Regional Court. 1 June 2026 — Magistrate Tlakale Sathekge denies bail. 30 July 2026 — matter postponed for further investigation into orchestrators of the hit.

 

Status

active — in custody; criminal matter before the Brakpan Regional Court; SAPS / Hawks investigation continues into those who paid for the hit

 

Outcome

unresolved — 16 charges including premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder; bail denied (1 June 2026); alleged co-conspirator Wiandre Pretorius deceased; orchestrators not yet identified

 

Sources

• Daily Maverick — Court finds Witness D murder accused could target witnesses, flee SA (1 June 2026)
• Daily Maverick — Guns, grit and a murder charge: Inside ‘Witness D’s’ alleged killer Matipandile Sotheni’s world (25 March 2026)
• News24 — Bail denied for alleged killer of Madlanga Commission’s Witness D (1 June 2026)
• TimesLIVE — Matipandile Sotheni denied bail in Marius van der Merwe murder case (1 June 2026)
• EWN — Alleged ‘Witness D’ killer Matipandile Sotheni denied bail (1 June 2026)
• The Citizen — Witness D murder case: Court dismisses Matipandile Sotheni’s bail application
• IOL — Ex-police task force member, turned assassin? Who is Witness D’s alleged killer? (16 March 2026)

 

Archive Notes

Catalogued on the IMPIMPI side as a structural-power case file: an elite state-trained tactical operative weaponised — allegedly for hire — against a protected commission witness. Facts on file: (1) SAPS career 2005–2019, Special Task Force from 2010 with >R1m state-funded sniper / tactical training; (2) post-2019 private close-protection work for a wealthy Houghton / Bedfordview employer; alleged role in tobacco-industry protection; (3) November 2025 — Van der Merwe (‘Witness D’) testifies at the Madlanga Commission on a 2022 EMPD torture-killing; (4) tracker logs on a black Suzuki Swift (registered to Sotheni’s girlfriend) show surveillance of his Brakpan home on 29 Nov and 2 Dec 2025, and a direct run to the Gout Street scene on 5 Dec 2025; (5) Sotheni and former reservist Wiandre Pretorius switch their phones off in unison en route; (6) Van der Merwe assassinated outside his home in front of his family; (7) March 2026 — AK-47 with Aimpoint sight recovered from a Bedfordview vehicle of Sotheni’s employer; ballistic match to the scene; internal parts swapped to defeat digital ballistic tracing; 173 rounds of ammunition (some state-issued) seized on arrest; (8) Pretorius dies by suicide February 2026; (9) bail denied 1 June 2026; matter postponed to 30 July 2026 as the state pursues those who paid for the hit. Audio reading autoplays on entry to this page.