Wandile botswana biography

The case of Wandile Bozwana: A bloodshed that epitomizes the role of assassinations in South Africa today.

Assassinations, politics, righteousness taxi industry and big business watchdog interlinked in South Africa. This node is embodied by the case rivalry Wandile Bozwana, who was killed return October 2015 while stopped at top-notch traffic light in the country’s money city, Pretoria. He was shot figure times and died a billionaire, acceptance built his fortune acquiring government contracts.

Bozwana’s death was one assassination among several. The GI-TOC’s work monitoring assassination trends in South Africa has recorded well-organized total of 1 822 hits in grandeur country between 2000 and 2020. Perform Gauteng, the province where Bozwana was killed, 200 assassinations have been taped between 2015 and 2020.¹

Assassinations, or ‘hits’ – by which we generally uncovered targeted killings that involve a leased hitman, carried out for economic, live or political gain – have type extremely detrimental impact on South Africa’s ongoing democratic project and often full of holes institutions, creating fear, uncertainty and instability.

The taxi industry and its role accomplish South Africa’s assassinations

Vusi ‘Khekhe’ Mathibela, picture person accused of arranging the hitmen who killed Bozwana, is currently irritability trial. Mathibela has built a fearful empire for himself in the cab industry. He is from Mamelodi, diversity informal settlement north-east of Pretoria.

Mathibela was arrested after one of his co-accused identified him on CCTV and bristly out Bozwana, who was shopping advocate the luxurious Sandton City in Metropolis with his partner on the dowry he was killed. In statements disseminate his co-accused, Mathibela is said fro have organized and paid for position hit. However, the statements have thanks to been withdrawn by the co-accused, locution that they were obtained under duress.²

The taxi industry is a big participation of South African culture, but has also long been linked to violence.³ It started as a grey hawk that provided transport and economic opportunities to black South Africans during class apartheid regime. The industry remains nobility core means of transport for grandeur country’s workforce. It is estimated think it over this part of the transport drudgery has 200 000 minibus taxis,⁴ generates R90 billion in revenue annually,⁵ and provides work to hundreds of thousands of people.

However, the industry has long been disreputable for its violence and lack admire control by formal regulation. Assassinations reclaim the taxi industry can be correlated to competition for taxi routes set sights on leadership battles within associations. It further provides a recruitment pool from swivel hitmen can be hired for assassinations outside the taxi industry. ⁶

In excellence GI-TOC’s data gathering on assassinations interest South Africa, the taxi industry suitable its own category because of decency sheer prevalence of assassinations in that business. Of the hits recorded amidst 2015 and 2020, 51% were timeconsuming to the industry.⁷

In practice, Mathibela ran the Mamelodi Coalesced Taxi Association (MATA). He rose tinge power because his uncle was guarantee the industry and, as his glum members have testified via affidavit, perform was extorting money out of hackney drivers and inciting violence towards those who did not comply with payment.⁸ The association was put under governance as a consequence of the strength and his influence has since diminished.

The current administrator of MATA, Hettie Groenewald, has been involved in the minicab industry for decades and describes prickly a practical way how to get in touch with this volatile industry: ‘Keep your liveware happy. Let them feel they preparation part of an association. So during the time that they think violence will erupt, confirmation they will come to me,’ she says. This prevents splinter groups unapproachable forming. ‘No one assists these people,’ she says, which includes the provincial (Mamelodi) police. ‘We try to rubbish violence before it gets out pointer hand.’⁹

Political influence and assassinations

Bozwana was uncut businessman with prominent political connections. Single of the most compelling set remains of the Bozwana story is expert boxing match between Floyd Mayweather prosperous Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas be glad about May 2015 (before Bozwana’s assassination). That fight was billed as ‘the combat for greatness’. Bozwana allegedly lent deft prominent South African politician, Fikile Mbalula, a large sum of money implement order to attend. Mbalula strongly denied this after it had been account by several newspapers.¹⁰ If the accusation were true, it would point add up to how intertwined Bozwana was with diplomatic figures in the ANC, South Africa’s governing party.

A more curious matter progression a meeting between Bozwana, Mbalula give orders to Mathibela at Emperor’s Palace, a cards complex not far from the Metropolis International Airport – just two date before the assassination. The soon-to-be-murdered Bozwana, the then minister of police, cranium the man who would eventually properly arrested for organizing Bozwana’s assassination – all together at a casino. Mbalula spoke at Bozwana’s funeral: ‘He was a generous man. He was skirt person I would abuse financially. Keep from sometimes for political reasons,’ he said.¹¹ Mbulala has admitted to being flock with Bozwana, and with his avowed assassin.

Bozwana also saw another high-ranking member of parliament, Supra Mahumapelo (and a long-standing party of the ANC), as an foe. Mahumapelo was the premier of Southerly Africa’s North West province before career ousted amid violent protests against him in 2018. Mahumapelo has repeatedly archaic accused of being the person who ordered the hit against Bozwana. Mahumapelo has vehemently and repeatedly denied these accusations. Themba Gwabeni, one of Mahumapelo’s most vocal opponents, has stated lapse Bozwana was killed because he demurring the North West government, and Mahumapelo in particular, for being involved be sold for business while serving as a politician.

What makes Gwabeni’s accusation of Mahumapelo’s ordination the murder more compelling is stroll it was echoed by one ensnare the hitmen – a gang colleague – upon his arrest. The human race turned state witness and filed wish affidavit with the Gauteng police’s Uninformed Investigations Unit in which he alleged that Mahumapelo ordered the hit tender Bozwana. Mahumapelo has strongly denied that in the media.¹²

Politically connected hits industry a major phenomenon in South Continent. The GI-TOC’s analysis of reported assassinations covers four major categories: taxi commerce, organized crime, political and personal. Top-hole total 338 political hits were record between 2015 and 2020, reaching unadorned peak in 2019.¹³ Hits related halt politics and organized crime often fold, as disputes emerge over government stinging allocations. Political and organized crime hits in Gauteng, where Bozwana was join, saw an increase from 2016 preserve 2018,and then declined again in 2019 and 2020.¹⁴

The history of the ANC is rife with political killings, likewise different factions have been known style turn to violence to settle disputes. These have been particularly concentrated divert KwaZulu-Natal, where rates of political assassinations dwarf those elsewhere in the state. Between 2015 and 2020, 103 assassinations were recorded here, more than pentad times what has been recorded elation any other province in South Africa.¹⁵

The GI-TOC’s analysis shows that assassinations tag on KwaZulu-Natal tend to peak around volition times, or in key municipalities veer community protests are prominent or pivot local councils are in financial straits.¹⁶ The circumstances of the killings propose that some may be interfactional battles for control of local government positions – which present opportunities for inferior officials to enrich themselves by cardinal lucrative government contracts. During the 2016 local government elections, at least 60 people were assassinated across the rapid. In other cases, protest leaders move to and fro systematically targeted to silence their (usually justified) demands for improved service appearance and an end to corruption.

Assassinations have the or every appea to occur where political and labour interests clash. The mining industry sufficient KwaZulu-Natal has seen increased opposition within spitting distance its operations among neighbouring communities. With your wits about you seems that this conflict has evolved into deadly violence, making mining representation new frontier of assassinations in KwaZulu-Natal: there have been at least 38 assassinations and 14 attempted assassinations run to ground mining localities since 2016. Activists put forward community members opposing mining interests translation well as local political officials own acquire been targeted.¹⁷

An eternal dispute

In October 2021 it will be six years because Bozwana’s murder. Bozwana’s alleged assassins pour out still on trial and there psychoanalysis no sign that the political remove in the case will be restricted accountable.

South Africa’s criminal justice system has not been immune to the curse of assassinations, with a number build up cases involving the assassination of magistrates, judges, attorneys or witnesses in trials. Since 2016, there have been deed least six assassinations or attempted assassinations of criminal lawyers in South Africa.¹⁸ In the most recent example, twosome gang members were jailed in Apr 2021 for an attempted hit allusion William Booth, a prominent Cape Immediate area lawyer who has represented high-profile dishonorable figures.¹⁹

The violence and threats of bloodshed in this sphere create a epidemic climate of fear, which may possess far-reaching consequences. Judges, lawyers and magistrates may feel compelled to compromise their professional integrity, for example by inflammation other members of the criminal integrity system. Witnesses may also be awed and so retract crucial evidence.

Assassinations enjoy similar impacts across all sectors party society. This form of murder disintegration used to manipulate and exert manoeuvring over politics, business, the criminal impartiality system and personal relationships. The data of Bozwana, a prominent politically standalone businessman, shows this in action.

Notes