CHRIS OXTOBY & JUDITH FEBRUARY | Killings of prosecutors a serious threat to the rule of law

On 31 July, Regional Court prosecutor Tracy Brown was shot dead outside her home in Gqeberha. Media reports pointed out that this was not the first killing of a prosecutor in the Eastern Cape this year, with prosecutor Elona Sombulula having been murdered in Ngcobo in April.  

Whilst the reasons for the killings are currently unknown, there will inevitably be strong suspicions that the killings are linked to the prosecutors’ work, and that unscrupulous characters are prepared to go so far as to take the lives of prosecutors in order to prevent them from doing their work.

Following the Brown murder, Advocates for Transformation noted that the killing occurred in the context of a “concerning rise in threats and violence directed at members of the legal profession”, and sadly it is all too clear that these killings are not isolated incidents. And if we extend our gaze beyond legal professionals, the picture becomes truly alarming.

Recent years have seen the killing of BOSASA liquidators Thomas and Cloete Murray, the attempted murder of advocate Coreth Naude, the killing of Gauteng Health Department whistleblower Babitha Deokaran, the murder of police Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear, and the murder of City of Johannesburg forensic investigator Zenzele Sithole. And this is not a comprehensive list.

These events paint an extremely troubling picture of attempts to intimidate and even to eliminate those who play a role in the fight against crime and corruption. It goes without saying that if the justice system is to function effectively, then prosecutors, lawyers, witnesses and all officers of the court must be able to do their work without fearing for their lives.

Another feature that is no less concerning is the apparent impunity of those who have organised and carried out these acts.  

In most of these cases there has been little or no discernible progress towards even identifying those responsible, let alone bringing them to justice. 

In addition to causing unspeakable pain to the families of the victims, these killings raise fundamental concerns that those who work to hold criminals to account are themselves at risk of assassination.

They point to murder being used as a tool to delay, distort, and pervert the course of justice - a situation that is as disturbing as it is untenable. 

The killings also take place against the backdrop of explosive allegations by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi about organised crime infiltrating the highest levels of government. These allegations have led to the suspension of the Minister of Police and the establishment of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

Whilst there is no evidence directly linking the recent killings to these broader allegations, the overall picture is extremely disquieting for the country, our institutions, and the rule of law. 

The use of violence to manipulate the legal process and intimidate legal practitioners and others working to fight crime cannot be tolerated if we are ever to build a safe and prosperous society.

The impunity with which these acts are committed raises deeply concerning questions about the state of our society, and our ability to uphold the very fabric of our constitutional democracy.

Such criminality cannot be met with mere words of censure from those in authority. As cynical as the South African public may have become about our law enforcement agencies’ ability to bring the perpetrators to book, it remains the case that it is essential that those responsible for the killing are speedily brought to justice.

In the longer term, one can only hope that it will not be too optimistic to put faith in the Madlanga Commission and the appointment of a new Minister of Police to be a catalyst for fundamental change.