{"id":841084,"date":"2025-10-31T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=841084"},"modified":"2025-10-31T13:41:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T11:41:53","slug":"the-job-becoming-one-of-the-most-dangerous-professions-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/841084\/the-job-becoming-one-of-the-most-dangerous-professions-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"The job becoming one of the most dangerous professions in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Being a business rescue practitioner or insolvency lawyer in South Africa has become one of the country\u2019s most dangerous professions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is according to Gareth Cremen, Partner at Cox Yeats Attorneys. What was once viewed as a highly technical and administrative role has now become a career fraught with threats, intimidation, and even violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cremen said<\/a> that while the work of these professionals is to help resuscitate struggling companies, they often face immense personal risk in the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople see us as professionals who step into failing entities, but what is not widely appreciated is the level of risk involved\u2014not economic risk, but personal risk,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn South Africa, we\u2019ve seen an increasing amount of threats, intimidation, and even assassinations targeting business rescue practitioners and insolvency lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past few years, several high-profile cases have made headlines, including the killings of lawyers and practitioners involved in sensitive corporate collapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cremen noted that between 2022 and 2023, at least 13 assassinations targeting lawyers and insolvency professionals were reported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe even saw the case of Bouwer van Niekerk, a well-known lawyer, who was shot in his own boardroom by men posing as clients. This shows just how dangerous the work has become,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risk, Cremen explained, stems from the nature of the information that business rescue practitioners and liquidators handle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese professionals often uncover sensitive financial data, corruption, or fraud. They are legally obligated to investigate and report irregularities to the authorities\u2014and that\u2019s what exposes them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to this exposure, many practitioners are being compelled to take extreme precautions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing liquidators and business rescue practitioners having to increase security around themselves and their families when handling high-risk matters,\u201d said Cremen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cremen stressed that the threats are not limited to lawyers. \u201cJudges, public prosecutors, and even whistleblowers face the same dangers,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen what happens to those who expose corruption\u2014many have paid the ultimate price.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judicial and criminal justice systems need urgent reform<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He believes South Africa\u2019s authorities have not done enough to protect professionals in these critical roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOften, when someone reports that they\u2019ve been threatened, the authorities already know who these people are and the circles they move in,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, I\u2019m not certain we have adequate resources to deal with these problems. We need to start tackling the elephant in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The growing risk has also raised concerns about the future of the profession itself. Cremen warned that fear could drive skilled practitioners away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis might raise a question around whether it\u2019s worth it. However, someone still has to perform these roles\u2014to wind up insolvent companies and to hold directors accountable for fraud or corruption.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we start scaring people out of the industry, we risk losing a vital layer of accountability in the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that watering down investigations or avoiding reports out of fear would be disastrous. \u201cWe cannot afford that. The industry needs to stand together and find a collective solution to this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cremen believes that the country\u2019s judicial and criminal justice systems need urgent reform to restore confidence and ensure protection for those enforcing corporate accountability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe entire system needs to be relooked at. We arrest the same perpetrators over and over again, often out on bail of just R2,000, only to reoffend,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to clamp down\u2014tougher bail conditions, stronger prosecutions, and more decisive action against criminal syndicates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the threats mount, Cremen has called for greater appreciation and respect for the professionals who keep corporate South Africa honest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that these professionals play a critical role in our economy, helping to uncover corruption, protect creditors, and revive failing companies. However, they shouldn\u2019t have to risk their lives to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What was once viewed as a highly technical and administrative job has now become a career fraught with threats, intimidation, and even violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":841114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[23924,23923,853],"class_list":["post-841084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-business-rescue-and-insolvency-sector","tag-cox-yeats-attorneys","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841084","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841084"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":841115,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841084\/revisions\/841115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}