Hit on Whistleblower Exposes State Capture of Law-Enforcement

Johannesburg, Friday, 5 December 2025 — The cold-blooded execution of Witness D — gunned down outside his home in Brakpan, in full view of his wife and children — is not merely a tragedy. It is a chilling marker of how far our nation has strayed from justice, safety and accountability.

Witness D had provided testimony before the Madlanga Commission in November, implicating senior law-enforcement personnel — including Julius Mkhwanazi, former deputy chief of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) — in a grisly murder and cover-up, alleging that a suspect was tortured and then dumped in a dam.

That he was silenced — killed — within days of reportedly calling openly for protection shows with brutal clarity that the threats against whistle-blowers are real, and that impunity continues to reign.

“If this killing is allowed to pass without swift and decisive justice, then we will have conceded our right to call South Africa a free, lawful democracy,” said Tebogo Khaas.

We demand that:

• Authorities treat this killing for what it is: not random crime, but a likely assassination tied to criminal capture of the state.

• The perpetrators be identified and prosecuted — including those who ordered it and those who carried it out.

• Witness-protection programmes be immediately expanded, effective, and under independent oversight; no one who testifies should ever fear for their life.

• The Madlanga Commission fast-tracks all leads arising from this killing, and issues urgent findings to Parliament on systemic police corruption and the nexus between organised crime and state actors.

To do otherwise — to do nothing — is to surrender our nation to fear, lawlessness and the decay of democracy.

We call on every citizen who believes in justice and dignity to stand up and demand real accountability now.

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Issued by Tebogo Khaas.