Justice comes in the firing line

ASSASSINATIONS: INVESTIGATORS GUNNED DOWN

- Hein Kaiser

In South Africa in recent years, people have paid with their lives for matters that should have played out in court, or through criminal investigations.

Instead, lawyers, auditors, liquidators and whistle-blowers were marked for death rather than justice.

Attorney Bouwer van Niekerk was shot and killed on 5 September at his law firm in Avonwold. The assailants had booked an appointment and were shown into a boardroom.

Moments later, gunshots rang out and the men walked out. His killing appears to be linked to his work on a major insolvency case tied to an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Reports suggest he had faced threats pressuring him to resign from the case shortly before his death.

Thomas and Cloete Murray were gunned down on 18 March, 2023 while driving on the N1 in Midrand.