{"id":838762,"date":"2025-10-01T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=838762"},"modified":"2025-10-01T11:04:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:04:53","slug":"south-africa-now-a-mafia-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/838762\/south-africa-now-a-mafia-state\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa now a mafia state"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

North West University Political analyst, Professor Andre Duvenhage, says South Africa qualifies as a mafia state, as it is difficult to differentiate between the political and criminal elites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duvenhage shared his views during an ENCA interview<\/a> amidst the Madlanga Commission hearings into criminality, political interference and corruption in the Criminal Justice System.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission was set up following serious allegations by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mkhwanazi implicated numerous high-ranking police officers, including Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, in having ties to criminal syndicates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial evidence suggests that powerful criminal syndicates have infiltrated South Africa\u2019s criminal justice system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also allegations that police investigations, particularly those involving sensitive political issues, have been suppressed, manipulated, or diverted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It further suggests that high-ranking police officers and influential politicians have colluded, failed to act, and benefited from criminal interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on these events, Duvenhage said South Africa can now be categorised as a mafia state, or criminal state, based on objective criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that a criminal state is where crime is rife and organised crime has reached a level where it is difficult to distinguish between the political and criminal elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe classic differentiation between a normal state and a mafia state is where you cannot clearly differentiate between the political and criminal elite,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the South African context, there is a long history of evidence, which includes academic research, that this differentiation does not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the Madlanga Commission and Mkhwanazi\u2019s comments show the strong links between ANC politicians in the government and people connected to criminal activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the Zondo Commission, which investigated allegations of state capture in South Africa, also showed strong links between the political and criminal elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou will find the same evidence at the Moerane Commission, which investigated political assassinations, and the Seriti Commission, which looked at the arms deal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is now clear evidence that South Africa qualifies to be regarded as a mafia state according to traditional and established criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complete lack of action regarding criminality within the state<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
President Cyril Ramaphosa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite overwhelming evidence of state capture and senior government officials being involved in corruption, not a single top politician has been successfully prosecuted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duvenhage said there was virtually no reaction from the criminal justice system despite promises from President Cyril Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stated that there is a complete lack of action regarding criminality within the state and among the political elite, which is problematic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of action from the police and the deterioration of South Africa\u2019s criminal justice system have seen crime explode across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Globalised Organised Crime Index ranks South Africa as the seventh worst country in terms of criminality scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa is in the company of Colombia, Mexico, Nigeria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon, which shows how big a problem criminality is in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duvenhage said the South African state is not competent enough to fulfil its core function of creating security, stability, and order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe South African police departments and the whole criminal justice system in the country are dysfunctional,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne figure which shows this dysfunction is that only one out of every 100 murders is successfully prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globalised Organised Crime Index ranking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
COUNTRY<\/strong><\/td>CRIMINALITY SCORE<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Myanmar<\/td>8.15<\/td><\/tr>
Colombia<\/td>7.75<\/td><\/tr>
Mexico<\/td>7.57<\/td><\/tr>
Paraguay<\/td>7.52<\/td><\/tr>
Congo, Dem. Rep.<\/td>7.35<\/td><\/tr>
Nigeria<\/td>7.28<\/td><\/tr>
South Africa<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>7.18<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Iraq<\/td>7.13<\/td><\/tr>
Afghanistan<\/td>7.10<\/td><\/tr>
Lebanon<\/td>7.10<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North West University Political analyst, Professor Andre Duvenhage, says South Africa qualifies as a mafia state, as it is difficult to differentiate between the political and criminal elites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":783381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1293,23722,23086,7516,23721,23723],"class_list":["post-838762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-cyril-ramaphosa","tag-madlanga-commission","tag-nhlanhla-mkhwanazi","tag-north-west-university","tag-professor-andre-duvenhage","tag-zondo-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838762"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838767,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838762\/revisions\/838767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}