South Africa’s Anti-Corruption Warriors Are Being Silenced
When he arrived at his offices in Saxonwold, Johannesburg on Friday, September 5, 2025, there was nothing to suggest that Bouwer van Niekerk’s day would be any different to any other. As he started work, the respected insolvency lawyer was no doubt looking forward to finishing the week and spending quality time at the weekend with his family, especially his 12-year-old son.
One of the meetings later that day was with four men we assume he thought were prospective clients. At the scheduled time, as he walked towards the boardroom to meet them, did any instinct kick in that something was amiss? Did the small hairs on the back of his neck prickle? Did his hand falter as he reached for the door handle?
We’ll never know.
All we do know is that within seconds of him entering the room, gunshots rang out, and the four suspects fled before anyone had a chance to react.
Bouwer van Niekerk was declared dead at the scene. He was just 43 years old.
Justice and constitutional development minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, condemned the brazen daylight shooting, which Gauteng police spokesperson, Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, described as a deliberate hit. She said investigations are ongoing to determine the killers’ motive.
At the time of his death, van Niekerk was reportedly working on several, high-profile cases, and initial thoughts are that the assassination might be a direct response to his work as the attorney for the business rescue of NTC Global Trade Fund, an alleged Ponzi scheme.
News24 reports tell us he’d recently received several death threats, the last one just days before he was killed. A woman speaking Afrikaans told him that if he didn’t resign, he wouldn’t “see the end of the week.” A similar threat was apparently made to business rescue practitioner, Kurt Knoop. But where Kurt decided to heed the warning, van Niekerk refused to be intimidated.
Although it was a decision that would cost him his life, friends said it was typical of his character. Even from a young age, he refused to back down from anything or anyone, and in his professional life, he was known for being the one who would put up his hand when no one else would touch a case.
In 2023, following the murders of liquidator Cloete Murray and his son Thomas, Van Niekerk said the profession was “not for the fainthearted” and that “popularity is rarely a prerequisite in obtaining success.”
He was no stranger to threats, and didn’t take them lightly, but he also didn’t let them stop him. At one point he even had armed bodyguards with him at all times, which took a toll not only on his personal bank account, but also on his friends and family, who frequently felt that they themselves might also be at risk.
His parents, Anton and Amy, said in a statement released after their son’s murder, “We asked Bouwer several times over the past six-and-a-half years whether the risk to his life was worth pursuing these high-profile cases. His answer was always an emphatic yes.
“He argued and believed that if all attorneys who were scared and intimidated were to back down, how will the corruption in society ever be brought under control? He believed in the justice system and was determined to play his role to make South Africa a better place and less crime-ridden country.
“Yes, we are shocked and heartbroken, but we are also very proud of our incorruptible son who tried to make this country a better place for all.”
Tragically, Bouwer van Niekerk is not the only one who’s paid the ultimate price for his commitment to standing up to corruption in South Africa. His murder represents a dangerous escalation in our country’s descent towards what can only be described as a Mexico-style cartel state.
Clearly, assassination has become the preferred method for silencing lawyers, whistleblowers, investigators, journalists, auditors and others who expose wrongdoings.
There is now only one truth:
Standing up to corruption in South Africa could cost you your life.
Among the many concerns I have with this, the very real escalation in the death toll is at the top of the list.
In 2021, there was one such assassination – Babita Deokaran, a whistleblower who exposed the PPE-linked corruption at Tembisa Hospital and others.
2023 saw four: Cloete and Thomas Murray (insolvency practitioners and Gupta liquidators), Zanele Precious Nkosi (a municipal litigation attorney), Frans Mathipa (an SAPS Colonel investigating corruption), and Simnikiwe Mapini (an auditor for Ekurhuleni).
Last year, we lost Johannesburg forensic investigator, Zenzele Sithole.
So far in 2025, there have been no fewer than five such assassinations:
March: Pamela Mabini (whistleblower)
April: Elona Sombulula (prosecutor)
June: Mpho Mafole (Ekurhuleni forensic audit head)
August: Tracy Brown (prosecutor)
September: Bouwer van Niekerk (lawyer)
Each one of these anti-corruption murders has shaken our country to its core, but it has also strengthened the resolve of every person committed to restoring the rule of law. Bouwer van Niekerk’s cold, calculated killing was clearly orchestrated to send a hard message to legal professionals – close your eyes to what we’re doing, or we’ll close them for you. Permanently.
But we will not be silenced. We will not turn a blind eye. And we will most certainly not give up.
Now more than ever we remain committed to continue our fight. The media is under attack, but they keep reporting. Because who will carry out critical investigative journalism if the mainstream media collapses?
South Africa has ineffective policing and a woeful record of prosecution of offenders. President Ramaphosa keeps making hopeful noises about protecting whistleblowers, but nothing ever seems to come of it.
So we have to keep fighting the good fight independent of government support. It is up to us, the forensic investigators, corporate whistleblowers, lawyers, journalists and financial auditors to keep putting the bad guys under pressure.
We are the wall, and, as all good Game of Thrones fans will know, if the wall fails, everything fails.