The job becoming the most dangerous profession in South Africa
Stakeholders in the legal profession are warning that the law profession is increasingly under threat in South Africa.
This is the warning from Law Society of South Africa president Nkosana Mvundlela, following the fatal shooting of a legal practitioner outside the CCMA in Johannesburg.
He described the killing as actually a disparaging situation and a very discouraging situation for the legal profession.
Her death follows the September killing of bankruptcy lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk in the boardroom of his firm in the city. That was the latest in a string of murders of insolvency practitioners, tax consultants and other professionals.
Mvundlela said lawyers are being wrongly targeted in disputes, despite their role being to help resolve conflict rather than fuel it.
Mvundlela did not mince his words about the seriousness of the problem, and South Africa is now seeing a real erosion of the rule of law in practice.
Mvundlela also stressed that legal practitioners are not the only ones at risk; they are part of a wider ecosystem under strain.
“The lawyers, the prosecutors, the police, the magistrates, the judges, and everyone else in society are one of the most important components in the protection and defence of the rule of law,” he said.
He argued that one of the biggest challenges is the weakening public image of law enforcement, which undermines deterrence.
“We must improve the level at which the police would rebuild their own image as a measure of protection for society,” he said.
“Because if you know very well that the police are doing their work as they ought to, you are not going to commit an offence.”
Asked whether legal practitioners should now be regarded as a high-risk profession, Mvundlela said the evidence is becoming impossible to ignore.
“Starting last year, just last year and this year only, we have seen prosecutors being gunned down. We have seen lawyers being shot in their offices. We have seen this young lawyer being killed at the doorstep of a court,” he said.
Assassinations targeting lawyers and insolvency professionals
Over the past few years, several high-profile cases have made headlines, including the killings of lawyers and practitioners involved in sensitive corporate collapses.
This is because these professionals often uncover sensitive financial data, corruption, or fraud, especially in legal contexts such as liquidations and business rescue proceedings.
Additionally, between 2022 and 2023, at least 13 assassinations targeting lawyers and insolvency professionals were reported.
“If that is not enough to send a chill down our spine, then nothing will,” Mvundlela said.
Mvundlela stressed that legal professionals in South Africa are under serious threat, often because their role is misunderstood or deliberately distorted.
“We are very few, and we are under a very serious threat. We are not part of the problem, but we are trying to be part of the solution as allowed by the Constitution,” he said.
The assassination in downtown Johannesburg has also prompted a protest from South Africa’s business fraternity.
Business Against Crime South Africa, a grouping that works with the government, added that legal professionals, investigators, prosecutors and witnesses are increasingly exposed to intimidation and violence
It is a tactic used “to shield criminal networks from accountability, and this is ultimately a matter that requires continued leadership from the state,” it said.
“Protecting those who uphold the law is fundamental to maintaining the rule of law and the stability of South Africa’s democratic and economic environment.”
Loading ...