South Africa

AGE OF THE ASSASSIN

Police investigate double murder after Bosasa liquidator Cloete Murray and son gunned down in Midrand

Police investigate double murder after Bosasa liquidator Cloete Murray and son gunned down in Midrand

Police are investigating two counts of murder after the high-profile Bosasa liquidator Cloete Murray and his son were gunned down in Midrand, Johannesburg, on Saturday in what appears to be a targeted hit.

Insolvency practitioner Cloete Murray, who was the court-appointed liquidator for African Global Operations (formerly Bosasa), has died in hospital after being shot in a suspected assassination on the N1 in Midrand, Johannesburg, on Saturday. 

It was reported that Murray (50) and his son Thomas (28) were travelling on the N1 north, near the New Road off-ramp at about about 2.45pm on Saturday, when unidentified gunmen fired at them. 

Police spokesperson Dimakatso Sello confirmed the shooting: “[…] on 18 March 2023, two men (reportedly a father and son) were travelling together when their vehicle was shot at by unknown suspects.”

Thomas sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was declared dead on the scene. Murray was rushed to hospital in critical condition, but died of his injuries on Sunday morning. 


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“The police will now be investigating two counts of murder,” Sello told Daily Maverick on Sunday.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or anonymously report tip-offs on the MySAPS application, which can be downloaded on any smartphone.

 

Murray, one of the founding directors of the insolvency company Sechaba Trust where his son also worked as a legal advisor, was involved in the liquidation of African Global Operations – formerly state contractor Bosasa. Bosasa has been in liquidation since February 2019. Several of its senior executives were implicated in corruption linked to State Capture.  

Read more in Daily Maverick: ‘Bosasa simply had no shame’ – Watson brothers’ company hammered in State Capture report

In the third instalment of his State Capture report, released last March, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo laid bare the extent to which Bosasa relied on bribing government officials to win contracts worth billions of rand.

A confidential 417 inquiry into Bosasa has been ongoing for more than a year, with politically connected figures expected to testify before it, as Murray and his team attempted to establish facts around the collapse of the Bosasa group, News24 reported

Murray was also a liquidator of Trillian Management Consulting, a subsidiary of Gupta-linked Trillian Capital Partners, which was liquidated at the insistence of Eskom over its inability to repay the parastatal R595-million — per a High Court order handed down in June 2019

He was also working on the liquidation of Comair, the owner of Kulula and operator of British Airways in southern Africa, as of June last year. DM

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  • Mari Bekker says:

    One wonders if his phone was pinged as well?

  • Bryan Macpherson says:

    What a tragedy.
    However the real tragedy is that nothing can be expected from SAPS “investigating two counts of murder”.
    South Africa, with the connivance of the ANC and its cadres, is on the brink of becoming a gangster state.

  • lilley.roger says:

    So who benefits from the death of Murray? Surely the same people who benefitted from the government contracts Bossasa “won” (through bribery, apparently). While the beneficiaries may not have pulled the trigger, it is likely they, or someone acting on their behalf and with their knowledge and approval, hired the hitmen who did. Hopefully someone else will carry on with the investigation into Bossasa and expose the names of the (bribed) government officials to the public before they get reappointed to positions od authority.

  • John Counihan says:

    Gangster state!

  • Hermann Funk says:

    Mr President, this blood is on your hands.

    • Garth Kruger says:

      and on the hands of the ANC cabinet Hermann. This is not some shoddy drug bust gone bad. This hit was sanctioned by those implicated in corruption. The order to kill must have come from very high up.

  • Jane Crankshaw says:

    This is what to expect from a sh**hole African Country. We have now been christened exactly that….the rule of law has slowly been eroded, this might just be the beginning of rock bottom!

  • Patrick Devine says:

    Gwede Mantashe & Nomvula Mokonyane ?

  • virginia crawford says:

    It is a tragedy and a warning, and does not bode well for the country or the uncovering of corrupt political figures. There are cameras on the highway, and technology to ‘see’ other phones close by. Has there been an appeal for anyone with a dashcam to give any evidence to the police. An assassination like this, requires organization and information, that requires a conspiracy. It is doubtful, but far more people than the actual killers should be arrested and successfully prosecuted.

    • David Forbes says:

      Absolutely! This is clearly an organised hit by (probably) ministers who have contracted some izinkabi from KZN. There is probably also a mole somewhere in the NPA, as they were leading the investigation. It means that the conspirators know what the case has in evidence against them. The hit, from the photos I saw, was very very professional. The SAPS are not very good at solving these kind of crimes, mostly because their senior officers are often involved. There’s a R1m reward out for the killers, but not by the cops. This is a very dangerous trend, and we can expect more of then until someone gets on top of this! NPA needs to be doing lie-detector tests. Get David Klatzow out here from the UK to do the forensic investigation. And how bad is it that the cops leave a FILE in the car that contains evidence against some other company???

  • Dennis Bailey says:

    Here we go again! The state takes out (i.e. assassinates) in broad daylight another loyal state whistleblower, and the ANC tries to convince the public that they are protecting those who risk their lives for justice and truth. Evidence suggests the Justice Dept itself is complicit with a mafia state, otherwise known as political thugs, while loyal, hardworking citizenry runs for cover. It disgusts me. Viva, ANC, Viva!

    • Craig A says:

      They weren’t even whistleblowers, they we just the liquidators, appointed by the state.

      We have gone beyond the point of no return! Our country is being run by organized criminal syndicates and the ANC seem to have a finger in each one.

    • David Forbes says:

      Isn’t a bit presumptuous to blame the ANC for this hit without any direct evidence, and without even any circumstantial evidence? I understand how you feel, and probably someone in the ANC is involved, but to just blindly point fingers is really not balanced, not logical, and not just.

      • Johann Olivier says:

        Mr. Forbes, you are entirely correct, of course. Premature. However, we can say without a shadow of a doubt that the lawless environment in which South Africans find themselves can be laid squarely at the feet of the ANC. Their easy acceptance of corruption, the failure to enforce the law and their lack of support for the courts (‘opinions’) have set the tone.

  • Fran Gebhardt says:

    To learn the immeasurable depths of this story, if you haven’t already, do watch the Carte Blanche insert. It gave me so much more context. All of these good people featured (excl. Rocha, who must surely be Suspect No. 1) are targets just trying to do their jobs for the good of this country. Alan Paton’s book title comes to mind yet again. RIP Cloete Murray and son.

  • Rod H MacLeod says:

    Words fail one – just watched that Carte Blanche video on dept of justice and lost all hope for this country. Simunye. We are finally one with the rest of this dark continent.

  • Alan Paterson says:

    Of course the esteemed Minister of Police will soon announce that they are following up certain leads and anticipate a breakthrough soon. Standard response. Then, nothing.

    • Vas K says:

      Yes, absolutely. Amazing how predictable South Africa has become.

    • Craig A says:

      “We will leave no stone unturned”! That seems to be the new catchphrase. I wonder if they even know what they are talking about. Cable thieves stole a whole lot of cables from outside the police station, while the cops were looking for stones to look under. What a bunch of morons!

  • Cunningham Ngcukana says:

    There is no capacity to investigate crime in South Africa in particular murder crimes with links to the government and the ANC. The crime will never be resolved because it was a hit. The media forgets that we have a government that pays people to stay silent in the PIC owned Day Break farm. The pick and pay general and the National Police Commissioner of Police with no clearance have no ability to deal with crime but they are there to protect Ramaphosa not the citizens of the country. This is one of the crimes that will not be resolved like many others. The media fails to follow the cases of significance that are very important for the country. General Maswanganyi’s murderers were identified as SANDF soldiers who used the SANDF vehicles to murder him whilst investigating corruption in the SANDF in the DRC. Their bail and legal defence was paid for by the state. The murderers of Babeta Deokran whose family was never visited by the pick and general we are yet to hear about progress in their case and the arrest of the kingpin. The forensic laboratories are a mess and this is not an accident because the ANC government is determined that evidence is destroyed or is not available in cases of connected people and worse in rape cases. Parliament has been fighting to no avail because ANC MPs have been shielding a thug called Cele. The backlog in forensic evidence is staggering. We must know that we have no police in this country but ANC protectors.

    • Gerrie Pretorius says:

      You hit the nail on the head!

    • David Forbes says:

      Yes, the police are useless, and deliberately so. The ANC keeps the chaos going because they can thrive in such a situation. The ANC has no accountability, unless WE, the citizens of Mzansi, begin to hold them responsible. It is up to us to go out there and mobilise everyone we can to vote for anyone else except the ANC in 2014. We should be pounding the streets already, not sitting on our backsides just moaning. We need to act if we are to initiate change.

  • Richard Baker says:

    Wonder if our president will even be aware of-let alone comment on-this atrocious act of cowardice-obviously motivated by people who Murray was getting close to and threatening. Brave whistle-blowers and investigators -as such or incidentally in the course of their work (and inquisitive journalists) will continue their sterling work under the shadow of criminality but if there is no political leadership or will-their efforts and the formerly vaunted Zondo Commission will be for nought.

  • Mike Schroeder says:

    News24 claims Cloete was 58, DM claims 50 … huh?

  • William Kelly says:

    We’re on our own. Only way to fight this is with more money than the criminals have. But we pay taxes, right?
    Peace to the family.

    • Johan Buys says:

      William,

      If a major study such as SIU or Zondo finds reasonable case, we should kick off safeguards.

      So SARS deep audits of all directors and shareholders. Highest risk scores in FICA for all banks and lawyers and accountants to take due action on. Suspended automatically by CIPC as directors. Illegal for lawyer trust accounts to pay to any entity with any implicated person as officer or beneficial owner.

  • Neil Parker says:

    SAPS: Oh – you’ve got cyanide in your bloodstream. Do you have “cynus” problems ?!!

  • Brian Cotter says:

    Can an interview with Judge Zondo be arranged. Those responsible for investigating the recommendations of his commission are being bumped off. Cloete Murray the latest. Which came first de Ruyter mentioning to the Presidents representative, who tactfully had amnesia, that someone in the Presidential Department was an Eskom mafia leader and then de Ruyter had an attempt on his life by poisoning or was it vice versa. Babita was reporting to the SIU for PPE corruption. Who runs the SIU, ” The SIU is there to execute its mandate to investigate Maladministration, Malpractice and Corruption within the State Institutions and the Private Sector as authorised by Proclamations issued by the President of South Africa. ” The net is closing.

  • Johann Olivier says:

    I must say, Mr. Rocha fills me with confidence as a truthful player. Not. I fear for the staff members and journalists of DM. Please take care. The ANC cadres are definitely learning from those paragons of democracy, Russia and China. The criminals are getting desperate and lashing out.

  • Anna V says:

    Why was this not the headline of the day? This is so shocking.

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