Major South African CEO says government is infiltrated by criminals

Ninety One CEO Hendrik du Toit said South African society has been engulfed by criminality and corruption, with the government being too feeble to save the country. 

In a social media post on 7 September, Du Toit called on citizens to stand up for law and order in South Africa. 

The post followed Du Toit’s reading of News24 journalist Jeff Wicks’ book, The Shadow State: Why Babita Deokaran had to die. 

Deokaran was a civil servant who worked her way up from an accounting clerk to the acting chief director of financial accounting at the Gauteng Department of Health.

In August 2021, she halted R850 million in suspicious payments to hundreds of companies linked to Tembisa Hospital.

She uncovered a sophisticated extraction network draining public health funds meant for the poorest communities, and called for a forensic investigation.

Deokaran was shot dead in a hail of bullets outside her home in Mondeor, Johannesburg. She had just dropped off her daughter at school.

“It is time for all South Africans to rally against the criminality and corruption that is engulfing our society,” Du Toit said.  

“Unfortunately, our government is too feeble and too infiltrated by criminals and thieves to save us. It is time for the citizens to stand up for law and order.” 

Du Toit said Wicks’ excellent book systemically documented the widespread corruption in South Africa’s failing health care system. 

The CEO also noted the recent murder of Bouwer van Niekerk, a top insolvency lawyer, in his offices in Johannesburg. 

“Many people died for our democracy. We cannot let thieves and gangsters take over our beloved country,” Du Toit said. 

“We cannot let criminals get away with the murders of people like Bouwer and Babita while they rob the poor to enrich themselves!”

The latest data from the South African Police Service (SAPS) shows that South Africa has a murder detection rate of 12.4%, down from 31% a decade ago. 

“That is pathetic, and I think it is going to drop to 10%. A murder detection rate of 10% means that you have a 90% chance of getting away with murder in South Africa,” Stanlib chief economist Kevin Lings said. 

“Think of the inefficiency of this. Think of the problems we have in the police system. How do you only catch 12% of murders? Do you know how inefficient your police has to be?” 

Hendrik du Toit’s statement in full

“It is time for all South Africans to rally against the criminality and corruption that is engulfing our society. Unfortunately, our government is too feeble and too infiltrated by criminals and thieves to save us. It is time for the citizens to stand up for law and order.

As I finished reading Jeff Wicks’s excellent book, The Shadow State, which systematically documents the heinous corruption in our failing health system, for which the whistleblower, Babita Deokaran, was assassinated, another murder was reported.

Bouwer van Niekerk, a top insolvency lawyer, was executed in cold blood in his offices in Johannesburg. His sin was to pursue justice.

Many people died for our democracy. We cannot let thieves and gangsters take over our beloved country. We cannot let criminals get away with the murders of people like Bouwer and Babita while they rob the poor to enrich themselves!”