Assassinations are the new way to settle scores

There was a time when assassinations in SA were almost unheard of. Bouwer van Niekerk’s killing in his SmitSew law office in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, last Friday is part of a disturbing trend of eliminating one’s opposition by shooting them.

It’s shocking – but no longer out of the ordinary.

Van Niekerk rose to prominence in 2018 as the attorney holding the Guptas to some sort of account in the more than 100 court cases filed against the business rescue practitioners (BRPs) to frustrate and undermine the rescue of Optimum Coal and the seven other Gupta-linked companies placed on life support. It was an agonising process that left many pondering whether our insolvency laws are not open to abuse, particularly where business rescue is concerned.

Optimum was eventually acquired by Liberty Coal and is now producing and exporting.

What we learned in the days after Van Niekerk’s assassination is that accounting, auditing, and insolvency have become high-risk professions.

One BRP told Moneyweb that he had been threatened multiple times over cases he was working on. He promptly resigned, as instructed, and urged his fellow BRPs to do the same – stressing that one’s life is more important than taking a lone, brave stand against would-be killers.

One cannot fault this advice. Self-preservation comes first. The assassins know this, and they count on sluggish, botched investigations by law enforcement.

ALSO READ: Decisive action needed after murder of lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk, says Cameron

Murder-for-hire

Six suspects have been arrested in connection with the hit on Gauteng health department whistleblower Babita Deokaran in 2021, but the kingpins remain at large. Deokaran had flagged R850 million in suspicious tenders at Tembisa Hospital. 

No arrests have yet been made for the killing of insolvency lawyer Cloete Murray and his son Thomas, who were shot in Midrand in March 2023. They had been involved in the liquidation of the corrupt prison supply company Bosasa, and were more recently investigating BIG Business Innovations Group and I2 Infinite Innovations, which were reportedly owing Investec Bank about R200 million.

Nor has anyone been arrested in connection with the murder of Ekurhuleni auditor Simnikiwe Mapini in December 2023. He had been looking into a suspicious R1.8 billion tender at the municipality.

A few years ago, while investigating illegal mining east of Joburg, we were told that hitmen in the area could be hired for as little as R2 000. 

Murder-for-hire has become more commonplace, largely because the risks of getting caught – while not zero – are low.

ALSO READ: Three men sentenced for brazen Wynberg Magistrate’s Court assassination

Where big money is involved, threats will often be sufficient to get your opposition to stand down – whether that opposition is a BRP, lawyer, accountant, or forensic investigator. If threats don’t work, it seems there’s no shortage of hired guns willing to do the unthinkable.

Within hours of Van Niekerk’s assassination, his colleague Kurt Knoop resigned as BRP of NTC Global Trade, which had been flagged by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority on suspicion of offering unregistered financial services. NTC was accused by the public prosecutor of running a Ponzi scheme, though that claim was thrown out by the Johannesburg High Court for lack of evidence.

Both Van Niekerk and Knoop had received multiple death threats in the days prior. Van Niekerk made the fatal mistake of allowing the killers into the company boardroom on the pretext of seeking legal assistance on a case. As some Moneyweb readers have pointed out, why accept face-to-face meetings with unknown people when Zoom or Teams will suffice?

The sole director of NPC is Edwin Letopa who says he had nothing to do with the murder, and that he too is fearful for his life.

ALSO READ: Two arrested and charged for IFP deputy chief whip’s ‘assassination’

Contours of lawlessness

The contours of this lawlessness are strewn across the business and political landscape.

In 2023, former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter survived an attempt on his life by poisoning, having received several prior threats. The reason? De Ruyter was closing in on corrupt syndicates bleeding the electricity utility dry. His former chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer also received a bomb threat, allegedly from an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) branch chair who had been overlooked for a job opportunity at Eskom.

Rand Water executive Teboho Joala and his bodyguard Sifiso Shange were shot in January 2024, in front of a hall full of school children south of Joburg, after receiving numerous threats. Joala oversaw shared services, including procurement and operations, so it’s not hard to imagine a motive. Three suspects were later arrested.

More than 60 traditional leaders have been killed in recent years, victims of deadly rivalries over money and power. Communities situated in areas with mining rights are ripe for conflict, given the rewards potentially available to the winning team.

ALSO READ: Police probe murder of Ekurhuleni senior auditor Mpho Mafole

The late King Sibiya, head of the Lungelo Lethu Human Rights Foundation, told of several threats against his life. His work challenging corrupt home evictions in the court had rattled criminal syndicates operating out of the sheriffs’ offices, where public auctions take place – often with the connivance of crooked bank officials. How else can you explain homes being auctioned for R100 or R1 000?

Sibiya left his office one evening to catch the train home to Soweto and noticed four men surrounding him. When they disembarked in Soweto, the four men surrounded him and told him his time was up. Sibiya screamed, creating such a public uproar that the assailants panicked and left him alone. He later passed away in 2024 from natural causes.

In 2022, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime recorded 141 assassinations in SA, an average of more than two a week. All this is laid bare in a report The Business of Killing, Assassinations in South Africa, prepared by Rumbi Matamba.

Professional hitmen are in high demand within the taxi industry and organised crime markets, and are also contracted by political and business actors to remove rivals and threats, says the report. Targeted killings have more than doubled over the last decade.

ALSO READ: Sars advocate shot three times in assassination attempt in KZN

What is to be done?

Insolvency practitioners are starting to ask the courts for personal protection – and that adds to the costs of business rescue or liquidation.

Lawyers involved in high-risk cases will now likely meet clients online. Relying on law enforcement for protection is probably a lost cause, so businesses will invest in private security and bulletproof vehicles. 

The events of the last week in Saxonwold will only accelerate these lamentable trends.

This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.