Wiandre Pretorius, 41, a man named in South Africa's major police corruption probe, was found dead after reportedly shooting himself at a petrol station in Brakpan, east of Johannesburg. Police received reports at 22:00 local time on Saturday about the incident. Officers found Pretorius’s body with a firearm next to it. A police spokesperson, Brig Athlenda Mathe, said CCTV footage is being checked to confirm the facts. Pretorius had told police last week that he survived an assassination attempt after his vehicle was shot at. It was reported he had a quarrel with his fiancée at the petrol station before taking his own life. Pretorius’s name surfaced in the ongoing Madlanga Commission probe into police corruption connected to the 2022 murder of Emmanuel Mbense, a witness killed allegedly by police officers. Four of the 12 persons of interest in that case, including Pretorius, are now dead. Three were executed “execution style” over the past two years. Brig Mathe said, "The question is: are we dealing with a syndicate that is eliminating each other in relation to the Emmanuel Mbense murder? That is what our detectives are probing." Earlier, a witness known as Marius van der Merwe claimed Pretorius was involved in disposing of a body tortured and killed by police officers. Van der Merwe was shot dead three weeks after testifying. Pretorius was questioned, and his firearms were taken in connection with Van der Merwe's killing. Police now say arrests are imminent following the watchdog’s investigations. This death deepens mystery and suspicion around the police corruption scandal that President Cyril Ramaphosa's government is urgently trying to unravel.