Posts

Can municipal corruption be likened to organised crime?

It’s another year at the polls for South Africa, with the focus this time on municipalities. At the end of 2026, citizens will vote for their local government representatives in an election that will take place between 2 November and 1 February 2027. This is a crucial event in the democratic system because local government Read more >

Disabling the enablers – hitting back at organised crime in SA

Organised crime is in the news again, this time in relation to the astounding allegations, made on 6 July 2025 by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, that South Africa’s criminal justice system was compromised because of the infiltration of criminal syndicates into police, judicial, parliamentary, political, intelligence, and law enforcement structures. As a result Read more >

Growing WC extortion economy threatens the whole country

In November 2023 we reported on a new project by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), which would monitor crime activity in the Western Cape (WC) province, which struggles with crime like many other areas in the country. The first issue of the Western Cape Gang Monitor, released in October, was based on Read more >

Time for a global strategy against organised crime

By Walter Kemp First published on GI-TOC Organised crime is moving up the international agenda. People and governments are becoming increasingly concerned about violence and instability associated with criminality. The recent crises in Haiti and Ecuador are cases in point. These are accompanied by a wide array of emerging threats from synthetic drugs to piracy Read more >

Compromised WC criminal justice system a boon for gangs

Image: GroundUp A year ago we reported that the Western Cape (WC) police ombud Oswald Reddy had been requested to investigate allegations that police members and gang members in the province were in cahoots. This followed a biting Western Cape High Court judgment in a case involving the 28s gang, delivered on 17 October 2022, Read more >