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EDITORIAL | Killer cartels gaining firmer foothold by the day

Timeslive · · 540 words · By Sunday Times Editorial
Crime and Security in South Africa Police Incompetence and Corruption Organized Crime and Assassinations
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/2026-05-21-editorial-killer-cartels-gaining-…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 90% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Appeal to Fear 80% confidence
Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.
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Repetition 90% confidence
Repeating a message until it is accepted as truth.
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Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence
Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

9 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 4
verified Verified By Reference 4
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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“Molosankwe was gunned down at his home in Lomanyaneng on Wednesday morning.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (Sowetan and three web search results) confirm that Thato Molosankwe was shot and killed at his home in Lomanyaneng on a Wednesday morning.
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web search NEUTRAL — Molosankwe was gunned down at his home in Lomanyaneng on Wednesday morning and police have deployed the provincial murder and robbery unit to investigate.
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-05-20-lis…
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web search NEUTRAL — Thato Molosankwe, popularly known as “Senganga-Credo-Ramatsela”, was gunned down at his home in Lomanyaneng village near Mahikeng in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Photo: Facebook.
https://www.atnews.co.za/tributes-continue-to-pour-in-for-sl…
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web search NEUTRAL — Mahikeng-based crime activist Thato Molosankwe has died after being shot at his home in Lomanyaneng on Wednesday.
https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2026-05-20-breaking-…
+ 1 more evidence source
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“Rumbi Matamba, the east African head of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC), told the Daily Maverick in April that “not a day goes by without an assassination in South Africa”.”
CORROBORATED
The statement is attributed to Rumbi Matamba of GI-TOC in an editorial and a Wikipedia reference citing a Daily Maverick piece from April 2023.
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web search NEUTRAL — Daily Maverick.^ The Business of Killing: Assassinations in South Africa, Rumbi Matamba, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, April 2023, Geneva.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EKhenana_Commune
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web search NEUTRAL — Rumbi Matamba, the east African head of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC), told the Daily Maverick in April that “not a day goes by without an assassination in South…
https://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/2026-05-21-editorial-kil…
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web search NEUTRAL — Read more in Daily Maverick: Shock and sadness after former ‘poo fighter’ Loyiso Nkohla gunned down in Philippi. Matamba and Thobela said political assassinations in the country could be understood “a…
https://africancrisis.info/index.php/assassinations-sas-elec…
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“GI-TOC says that in the 10 years to 2024, contract killings increased 108%.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While evidence mentions GI-TOC reports on contract killings and their costs, none of the provided search results or Wikipedia entries mention a specific '108% increase' over 10 years to 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Caodaism is a Vietnamese monotheistic syncretic religion that combines "ethical precepts from Confucianism, occult practices from Taoism, theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, and a hierarchica…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caodaism
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC; Vietnamese: Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, IPA: [tʰaɲ˨˩ fow˦˥ ho˨˩ cɪj˦˥ mɨn˧˧] ), also known as Saigon, is the most populous municipality of Vietnam, with a population of more than 14…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_City
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC; lit. 'Capital's First Command'), is a Brazilian organized crime syndicate. According to a 2023 The Economist report, the PCC is Latin America's biggest drug gang,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primeiro_Comando_da_Capital
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“They are generally divided into three categories: political, the taxi industry and personal.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence discusses contract killings generally or in specific contexts, but does not explicitly state that they are 'generally divided into three categories: political, the taxi industry and personal'.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, mo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international football and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. Nic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_national_soccer_t…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — South African contract law is a modernised form of Roman-Dutch law rooted in canon and Roman legal traditions. It governs agreements between two or more parties who intend to create legally enforceabl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_contract_law
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“The trend of hitmen for hire has gained traction since the high-profile murder of Babita Deokaran in 2021.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia explicitly confirms that Babita Deokaran was a South African whistleblower murdered on 23 August 2021.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Zwelini Lawrence Mkhize (born 2 February 1956) is a South African medical doctor and politician who served as the Minister of Health from May 2019 until his resignation on 5 August 2021. He previously…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zweli_Mkhize
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Babita Deokaran (1968 - 23 August 2021) was a South African civil servant and whistleblower who exposed large-scale corruption and procurement irregularities within the Department of Health in Gauteng…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babita_Deokaran_(whistleblower…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Babita Deokaran was a South African whistleblower murdered for reporting corruption at the Gauteng Department of Health where she was working as the acting chief director financial accounting officer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Babita_Deokaran
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“She was killed after uncovering massive looting at Tembisa Hospital.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia confirms Babita Deokaran was murdered for reporting corruption and procurement irregularities within the Department of Health in Gauteng (which includes Tembisa Hospital).
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web search NEUTRAL — The daughter of character actor Hari Shivdasani and the cousin of actress and her contemporary Sadhana Shivdasani, Babita's debut film was the successful drama Dus Lakh (1966), but it was the romantic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babita
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web search NEUTRAL — Babita Shivdasani was born in a prominent Sindhi family based in Bombay. Encouraged by the success of her cousin, actress Sadhana Shivdasani, in Hindi movies, Babita too decided to enter the film indu…
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0044999/bio/
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web search NEUTRAL — Babita Kapoor is a former Indian actress who is the niece of well-known Indian actress “ Sadhana Shivdasani ” and the daughter of actor Hari Shivdasani. She made her acting debut in the drama film “Du…
https://wikibio.in/babita-kapoor/
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“Some, like City of Ekurhuleni auditors Simnikiwe Mapini and Mpho Mafole, worked for government.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results confirm Mpho Mafole was Ekurhuleni's chief auditor and Simnikiwe Mapini was an adjudicator/auditor in the Finance Department, both targeted during corruption investigations.
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web search NEUTRAL — In a chilling true story unfolding in Ekurhuleni, senior auditor Mpho Mafole became the third person investigating corruption to be targeted in a deadly atta...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgJEXnlMapM
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web search NEUTRAL — Then, in June 2025, Mpho Mafole, Ekurhuleni’s chief auditor, was assassinated in a hail of bullets after leaving a meeting.Like Mapini, he was deep into audits of the same R4 billion tenders, uncoveri…
https://centralnews.co.za/hitmen-and-public-funds-the-deadly…
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web search NEUTRAL — This includes the murder of Simnikiwe Mapini, an adjudicator in the Finance Department, who was gunned down in Germiston near Rand Airport on 8 December 2023 and the suspicious shooting of the City’s …
https://www.actionsa.org.za/actionsa-condemns-persistent-att…
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“Others, like insolvency practitioners Bouwer van Niekerk and Cloete Murray and his son Thomas, worked in the private sector.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that Bouwer van Niekerk, Cloete Murray, and Thomas Murray were insolvency practitioners/lawyers who were killed in targeted attacks.
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web search NEUTRAL — Cloete Murray was one of the country's leading insolvency practitioners, central to investigations into Gupta-linked companies and other state capture entities. In 2023, he and his son Thomas were gun…
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2025-09-05-ins…
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web search NEUTRAL — Cloete Murray was a giant in the South African insolvency profession. His work ethic and tenacity were legendary, as was his fearlessness in controlling some of the shadiest of liquidated companies.
https://www.news24.com/opinions/columnists/guestcolumn/opini…
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web search NEUTRAL — Insolvency lawyer Bouwer van Niekerk was fatally shot in his Jan Smuts Avenue office in the morning on Friday, 5 September 2025. SARIPA said Bouwer was a respected legal professional who worked on com…
https://thebulrushes.com/2025/09/05/insolvency-attorney-bouw…
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“the Madlanga commission has painfully exposed how crime intelligence is almost non-existent at the moment.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results or cross-references regarding a 'Madlanga commission' or its findings on crime intelligence.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.