South Africa’s witness protection system is failing. The deaths of the likes of Moss Phakoe, Jimmy Mohlala, Babita Deokaran, Marumo Phenya, Mpho Mafole, and now Marius van der Merwe, known in the official Madlanga Commission as Witness D, expose a grim reality: those people brave enough to speak the truth are often left entirely exposed, sometimes paying with their lives. These are not isolated tragedies; they reveal a system incapable of defending the very citizens it claims to serve.