Assassinations of figures like Deokaran, Murray and van Niekerk show how corruption probes end in bloodshed rather than accountability.
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.
Bouwer van Niekerk and Thomas and Cloete Murray
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. Thomas died at the scene.
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Cloete, who was rushed to hospital, later died from his injuries. Cloete Murray was a well-known insolvency practitioner and the liquidator of Bosasa, the company central to state capture allegations at the Zondo commission.
He had also been court-appointed as liquidator or trustee in several other politically charged cases.
His involvement in such high-profile matters raised concerns that the shooting may have been an assassination connected to his work.
Marumo Phenya, Babita Deokaran, and Mpho Mafole
Marumo Phenya was found shot multiple times in the driver’s seat of his vehicle in Roodepoort on 17 October, 2022.
Phenya had blown the whistle on tender corruption at the department of home affairs, uncovering irregularities involving a company that provided IT services to the department.
Babita Deokaran was killed on 23 August, 2021 when six armed men opened fire on her while in her car in the driveway of her home near Johannesburg.
She was a key witness in a multimillion-rand fraud investigation involving allegedly irregular Covid personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts.
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Deokaran had flagged corrupt colleagues and politically connected figures who had allegedly manipulated the tenders for personal gain.
Mpho Mafole was shot dead on 30 June, while driving on the R23 in Kempton Park.
He was a senior forensic auditor at the City of Ekurhuleni and was investigating a R2 billion electricity revenue shortfall and other corruption at the time.
Armand Swart and Frans Mathipa
Armand Swart was killed on 17 April, 2024, shot 23 times outside his workplace in Vereeniging. The hitmen mistook him for another employee.
The intended target was reportedly his colleague, who had blown the whistle on Transnet contract price inflation of up to 4 500%.
Frans Mathipa was shot dead on 6 August, 2023 near Hammanskraal. Mathipa had been investigating a spate of abductions at the Mall of Africa and the involvement of SANDF members.
In late July, 2023, he applied to a court to access the communications records of certain SANDF personnel.
