Lawyer in Mbense murder case insists accused was not at scene

Lawyer for Cobus Janse van Rensburg, one of the six accused in the Emmanuel Mbense murder case, says his client was not at the scene of crime on the night the businessman was murdered.

Advocate Marius Van Wyngaard was cross examining Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) investigator Nomsa Masuku in the bail application of Van Rensburg and five others including suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi at the Brakpan Magistrates’ Court, east of Johannesburg, on Thursday.

Mbense was tortured and murdered in April 2022, after being falsely linked to a crime and his body dumped in a dam.

Van Wyngaard referred Masuku to the statement made by whistle-blower and slain former Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) officer Marius van der Merwe known also as “Witness D” at the Madlanga Commission.

“From where Mr Marius van der Merwe indicates that applicant number 1 and other members left the scene and he was left with other people that Etienne mentions.

The name of applicant number 1 was not mentioned whatsoever, during the process or procedure that was taken later.

We now know that applicant number 1 was not on the scene.” VIDEO | Emmanuel Mbense’s brother explains the impact the death has had on the family: