EDITORIAL: SA spiralling into a gangster state

Not long ago President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged that violent crime was taking a heavy toll on South Africans, putting communities all over the country in a state of fear for the safety of their families.   

Almost on a daily basis newspapers chronicle stories about murder, rape and other violent crimes. The latest news flash is the killing of Cloete Murray, a respected insolvency practitioner acting as a liquidator for Bosasa, a company that went into liquidation in 2018 after several senior officials were implicated in widespread corruption under the state project. 

His murder, and that of his son Thomas, in broad daylight, has sent shivers down the spine of legal practitioners, whistle-blowers or police officers involved in untangling high-profile, politically connected matters. There’s a strong possibility that the murders are linked to his work as the liquidator of Bosasa, which won lucrative government contracts in the correctional services department. One member of the SA Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners Association, an industry body group, said the Murray slayings had sent “a huge shock” through SA’s business rescue and insolvency industry. There’s no reason not to believe this.  

It is also worth noting such killings are happening with disturbing regularity. In 2020, Charl Kinnear, a police officer in the Western Cape, was shot dead in what was, in all likelihood, a hit to pervert the course of law. Kinnear was investigating a gun racketeering case involving an alleged organised crime boss and eight high-ranking police officers.   

It has been 17 months since the brutal murder of Babita Deokaran, a senior health department official with a track record as an anti-corruption whistle-blower. She was a witness in the investigation by the Special Investigation Unit to expose a syndicate set up to benefit from state corruption.

These murders are exhibit A of SA’s descent into a gangster state, enough examples for Ramaphosa to make good on his promises during the state of the nation address in February that his government would embark on the “process of reform to improve the effectiveness of our fight against crime”.

A cursory glance at the crime statistics exposes the ineptitude of the SA police. Murder has surged by more than 60% over the past decade, putting SA’s per capita rate among the highest in the world with 42 murders per 100,000. Worse still, the killer or killers of the Murrays have a big chance of getting away with it because the police’s ability to solve murder has fallen by 55%  since 2012.   

The police’s crime intelligence capability has also deteriorated, undermined by political interference and weak police leadership. This has resulted in its failure to anticipate and avert the 2021 violent unrest that tarnished SA’s image as a safe, investor-friendly emerging market. One also gets a sense that the police overcompensated in this week’s EFF-led protest action with 3,000 soldiers, and the entire police force on the streets because police intelligence is in such a messy state that it had no idea how demonstrations would unfold. 

The killing of Murray should instil a sense of urgency in revamping policing with a coherent, credible action plan to make South Africans safer and safeguard the rule of law.