Freedom Under Law’s Johann Kriegler is urging law enforcement agencies to ensure that justice is served in the murders of Cloete and Thomas Murray, which he says, poses a threat to South African democracy.

The father and son were shot by unknown gunmen over the weekend on the N1 highway near Midrand.

Cloete Murray was a well-known insolvency practitioner who was acting as the liquidator of Bosasa, a company implicated in corrupt activities and which featured prominently in allegations of State capture during the Zondo Commission of Inquiry.

His son Thomas had become a director in his father’s firm, Sechaba Trust. 

Cloete Murray is also reported to have held court appointments as liquidator or trustee in other cases linked to State capture.

“These events raise fundamental concerns that those who threaten to expose corruption are themselves at risk of assassination. They point to murder being used as a tool to delay, distort, and pervert the course of the law. This situation is untenable. The killing of individuals such as the Murrays, court-appointed liquidators and trustees, has a potentially chilling effect on key role players in the justice system, who should be able to do their jobs without fearing for their lives. The killings are a fundamental threat to the rule of law and to our constitutional democracy,” said Kriegler.

He said the recent double murder is similar to that of the murders of Anti-Gang Unit police detective Charl Kinnear, who was investigating cases involving organised crime; and Gauteng Department of Health whistleblower Babita Deokaran, who exposed a series of fraudulent transactions involving procurement in the health sector during lockdown.

“Freedom Under Law condemns the killing of Cloete and Thomas Murray in the strongest terms. We join others across society, including the South African Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners’ Association and the Defend our Democracy campaign who have called on law enforcement agencies to ensure that those responsible for the killing are speedily brought to justice,” Kriegler said.