Actionsa Sickened by the Murder of Key Madlanga Commission Witness

By Dereleen James MP
ActionSA Member of Parliament

ActionSA is sickened by the murder of a witness who testified before the Madlanga Commission in November, marking yet another unmistakable sign of South Africa’s descent into a mafia state.

While the full details are still being established, ActionSA believes that the protection of whistle-blowers and witnesses can no longer be a matter that government and law enforcement continue to kick down the road.

Tonight’s tragic development reinforces the urgent need for both Parliament’s Ad-Hoc Committee and the Madlanga Commission to ensure that individuals whose roles, testimony or exposure place them at heightened risk are provided with appropriate and adequate protection, with due consideration for the seriousness of the matters under investigation.

ActionSA cannot reconcile with the fact that, at the very moment when both the Commission and the Committee are probing some of the most egregious examples of criminal infiltration of law enforcement and key institutions, those most vulnerable to intimidation and violence remain exposed to such fatal risks.