From State Sniper to Hired Hitman

Matipandile Sotheni, the alleged hitman behind Marius van der Merwe’s brutal killing appeared in the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 16 March 2026.

A former member of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Special Task Force, Sotheni is accused of the 5 December 2025 assassination of Marius van der Merwe, who was a key witness known as ‘Witness D’ at the ongoing Madlanga Commission.

Van der Merwe was gunned down outside his Brakpan home in the presence of his wife and children shortly after providing testimony regarding alleged torture involving the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD)

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The court heard that Sotheni joined the SAPS in 2005 and received elite sniper training costing the state over R1-million.

He resigned in 2019 to enter the private security sector, where he was employed as a bodyguard for a wealthy Houghton family at the time of the killing.

Investigators believe Sotheni carried out the hit on instruction from a mastermind who remains at large.

Police arrested Sotheni on 14 March, seizing a large quantity of unlicensed ammunition; the charge sheet further alleges he secured an AK-47 specifically for the hit.

The case has been postponed to 25 March 2026 for a formal bail application, which the State intends to oppose under Schedule 6.