Mounting pressure could have triggered Pretorius’ suicide: Expert

Chairperson and commissioners at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria.

Crime expert and specialist investigator, Mike Bolhuis, says there are a number of possibilities that could have led Wiandre Pretorius to take his own life.

Bolhuis says this includes the mounting pressure of police investigations into his alleged involvement in criminal activities.

Earlier, police confirmed that he was a person of interest in the murder of Marius van der Merwe, known as Witness D, at the Madlanga Commission.

Pretorius took his own life in Brakpan, east of Johannesburg, on Saturday night. He survived an apparent hit outside a house in Boksburg last week.

Bolhuis says further investigations will reveal the exact reason as to why Pretorius took his own life.

“It could be that he had personal problems and just decided to kill himself. Suicide is on the rise and people do commit suicide due to serious concerns. It could be because of the stress and pressure of investigations against him and his implication in cases regarding the Madlanga Commission and it could also be that this is too much after the shooting, and he decided that he does not want to live anymore and he committed suicide,” says Bolhius.