Gauteng police have confirmed the death of Glenn Agliotti, a central figure in the corruption trial of former police commissioner Jackie Selebi.

Gauteng police spokesperson Mavela Masondo said an inquest docket has been opened at the Douglasdale police station in Sandton.

A postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of Agliotti's death.

In 2006, Agliotti was arrested in connection with the shooting of mining magnate Brett Kebble. Kebble's name later emerged prominently in the 2009 corruption trial of boxer Mikey Schultz, who eventually confessed to Kebble's killing.

Agliotti could not be directly linked to the murder, which was determined to be an assisted suicide.

Following his acquittal in Kebble's murder case, Agliotti became the star witness for the state in the corruption trial of Jackie Selebi.

Agliotti and Selebi were known to be friends, and cellphone records revealed contact between the two on the night of Kebble's killing, The Mail & Guardian reported.

In 2007, the National Prosecuting Authority issued an arrest warrant for Selebi on charges of corruption, fraud, racketeering, and defeating the ends of justice.

Selebi was accused of accepting bribes and gifts from Kebble, Agliotti, and businessman Billy Rautenbach in exchange for information and preferential treatment.

In 2010, Judge Meyer Joffe sentenced Selebi to 15 years in prison, describing him as an "embarrassment to South Africa and the police." Joffe found Selebi guilty of accepting bribes totalling R166,000 from Agliotti in return for sharing confidential police reports.

Selebi was granted medical parole less than a year into his prison term and passed away in 2015.

The circumstances surrounding Agliotti's death remain to be determined, pending the outcome of the postmortem examination.