Founder: Turnaround Talk
The South African business rescue, business turnaround, liquidation and insolvency professions were shocked to the core when Cloete Murray, one of the country’s most beloved and high profile liquidator, was gunned down on Saturday, 18 March, in Midrand. Murray was travelling with his son at the time who was also killed in the shooting.
In what is looking more and more like an assassination, questions are now being asked about the safety of practicing within the profession. The liquidation process is an emotive one and often involves uncovering some form of mismanagement or possible fraud on the part of the previous board. In Murray’s case, he was involved in some of the biggest cases in the country exposing deeply rooted corruption along the way.
Liquidators and insolvency practioners are now at sixes and sevens scared of the pushback that they may receive on their cases. According to an article by Business Live, the South African Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners Association (Saripa) has called on the government to ensure the safety of those working in the sector after the Murray killing.
Mosaic of corruption
A News24 article points out that, for over more than 20 years, Cloete Murray had worked on some of the most controversial matters as a liquidator and curator – particularly on major tax cases. These included the estates of Czech gangster Radovan Krejcir and murdered strip club owner Lolly Jackson.
Murray was also central to the country’s largest tax case, that of Dave King, when the South African Revenue Service moved to preserve assets.
“Cloete was central to so many cases and liquidations – he wasn’t just a curator, he really went after the assets,” one industry source told News24.
The article adds that another case that Murray was working on was that of Julius Malema, whose estate Murray oversaw. Malema owed SARS millions of rand. The tax matter has since been settled.
More recently, Murray and his company, Sechaba Trust, were involved in the liquidation of Bosasa – the corrupt group of companies ran by the late Gavin Watson that bribed its way into government contracts worth billions of rand.
The article points out that a confidential enquiry has been ongoing for more than a year, with Murray and his team attempting to establish facts around the collapse of the Bosasa group of companies.
Among witnesses expected to be called to testify before the inquiry are politically connected figures with direct links to the most senior levels of the ANC party.
The article adds that Murray was also overseeing the liquidation of Tubular Construction Projects, a company that was involved in major corruption at Eskom’s Kusile power station. He was also the liquidator of Trililan – a Gupta-linked company linked to state capture at Eskom and Transnet.
Most recently Murray was working on the liquidations of Comair and the Constantia Insurance Company. The insolvency of Kabelo Matsepe, the VBS fixer who helped connect the bank to dozens of municipal officials who invested hundreds of millions in the failed bank, was also on his list of dozens of cases.
Image By: City Press
The matters Murray was central to, make up a mosaic of some of the most brazen and corrupt companies and individuals in South Africa’s recent history, and in the process, he had made enemies of the wealthy and powerful alike.
“There is something big going on here,” another senior figure in the insolvency industry told News24, on condition of anonymity. They spoke of recent cases, without naming specific individuals or companies involved, that Murray had filed papers on in the past week and added that “there is no doubt there is a link”.
The article adds that Forensics for Justice, a non-profit dedicated to fighting crime and corruption, confirmed late on Saturday that it would offer a R1 million reward for any information. Details of the offer will be finalised in the days to come.
Setting an example
SARIPA has come out to condemn the shooting saying that it has shocked the profession. The industry body strongly condemned what it called a shocking, senseless, and brutal attack and wants to see those responsible found and convicted.
“An example must be set such that this never occurs again, to enable our members to act and discharge their duties in a professional manner,” SARIPA said in a statement on Monday.
The organisation described Murray, a long-standing member of SARIPA, as an acclaimed leader in the field of insolvency and restructuring.
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“His contribution to our profession goes back many years. He was brilliant and incisive as an insolvency practitioner and set the bar for administering complex insolvent estates. Many of his matters have set important legal precedent which will stand as a tribute to his extensive contribution to our profession,” said SARIPA.
“Cloete was highly respected by his colleagues and peers. He ran a very professional practice, which was well known and recognised throughout the country. He devoted his professional life to the profession and to the development of the practice of insolvency and restructuring.”
Murder for hire
While it is unconfirmed that the Murray shooting was an assignation, all signs point to this being the case. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…it probably is a duck.
One cannot help but recall the brutal murder of Babita Deokaran and what transpired after she blew the whistle on significant corruption. Murray was involved with the likes of Trililan, Bosasa and the Gupta’s so it is not completely out of line to think that this may be a hit of a similar nature.
Where does this leave the insolvency and liquidation profession? What will happen if an liquidator or insolvency practitioner uncovers that there may be corruption linked to a high profile case that they are handling? On the one hand, they have a duty to report what they see and uncover. However, these are family people and may be the main source of income in their households. They may become reticent to report this on the chance that they may become a target.
Is this a country we want to live in? We all have a moral duty to expose corruption. The only way that evil wins is when good people stand back and do nothing. Government has also encouraged the public to fight against corruption. But at what cost?
