Killing of Cloete and Thomas Murray
23 March 2023
Freedom Under Law notes with deep concern reports of the killing of Mr Cloete Murray and his son Thomas on 19 March 2023. 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. Thomas Murray 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.
Cloete Murray’s involvement in such high-profile, politically connected matters raises serious concerns about the possibility of the killing being an assassination linked to matters investigated by him. Such killings are sadly not unique. There have been others, notably:
The murder of Anti-Gang Unit police officer Charl Kinnear, who was investigating cases involving organised crime;
The murder of Gauteng Department of Health whistle-blower Babita Deokaran, who was killed after flagging a series of suspicious and potentially fraudulent transactions.