{"id":102050,"date":"2025-11-06T14:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T12:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=102050"},"modified":"2025-11-06T14:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T12:08:12","slug":"business-rescue-practitioners-facing-heightened-threats-amid-corruption-and-organised-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/business-rescue-practitioners-facing-heightened-threats-amid-corruption-and-organised-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Rescue Practitioners Facing Heightened Threats Amid Corruption and Organised Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read | 06 November 2025 | 14:00 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8 Once seen as a technical profession, business rescue has become one of South Africa\u2019s most dangerous jobs, as corruption and organised crime put practitioners\u2019 lives at risk.<\/p><\/div>\n

Once regarded as a technical and administrative profession, being a business rescue practitioner or insolvency lawyer in South Africa has now become one of the most dangerous careers in the country. This is according to Gareth Cremen, Partner at Cox Yeats Attorneys, who warns that the rise in corruption, organised crime, and asset recovery disputes has made the field increasingly perilous.<\/p>\n

Cremen explains that business rescue practitioners are appointed to take temporary control of financially distressed companies. Their duty is to investigate the affairs of the company, develop a viable business rescue plan, and ensure that creditors receive returns without resorting to immediate liquidation. \u201cA business rescue practitioner operates under Chapter 6 of the Companies Act and has limited powers. Their role is to stabilize and revive a struggling entity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In contrast, liquidators are appointed when business rescue fails. They take possession of a company\u2019s assets, sell them, and distribute the proceeds to creditors under the supervision of the Master of the Court. Insolvency lawyers, meanwhile, advise these professionals, prepare court applications, and assist with forensic recoveries and post-commencement finance negotiations.<\/p>\n

However, this line of work has increasingly become linked to intimidation, threats, and even killings. \u201cWe are witnessing an uptick in targeted violence against professionals involved in anti-corruption, asset recovery, and high-stakes insolvency matters,\u201d Cremen reveals. Citing data from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, he notes that 131 targeted killings were recorded in 2023 across political and organised crime sectors – a sign of the dangerous environment in which practitioners operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese attacks often occur under the guise of business appointments or legal disputes,\u201d he adds. \u201cFifteen years ago, this level of aggression was unheard of, but now it\u2019s alarmingly common.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cremen further clarifies that accusations suggesting practitioners deliberately prolong liquidations for personal gain are largely unfounded. \u201cThe real issue is the lack of cooperation from company directors and offenders who withhold information,\u201d he says. \u201cTracing assets, investigating transactions, and conducting inquiries are time-consuming and resource-intensive processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The growing risk has forced professionals to invest heavily in security measures, driving up the costs associated with business rescue and liquidation. \u201cThese costs ultimately fall on the estate, but at this point, they\u2019ve become a necessary safeguard,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

To address the escalating danger, Cremen calls for urgent systemic reform. \u201cSouth Africa has solid witness protection laws, but the implementation is weak. We need better funding, faster prosecution of economic crimes, and protection for those investigating them,\u201d he urges.<\/p>\n

He warns that known perpetrators often evade justice due to delays and repeated bail grants. \u201cWe must fast-track prosecutions, impose harsher penalties, and freeze the assets of crime funders. Unless we fix these cracks in our justice system, professionals exposing corruption will remain at risk,\u201d Cremen concludes.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on Sabahul Muslim<\/em> <\/a>with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Gareth Cremen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read | 06 November 2025 | 14:00 CAT Once regarded as a technical and administrative profession, being a business rescue practitioner or insolvency lawyer in South Africa has now become one of the most dangerous careers in the country. This is according to Gareth Cremen, Partner at Cox Yeats Attorneys, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":102051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Business-Rescue-Practitioners.png?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qxY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-13 03:52:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}