Magda Wierzycka, who has recently relocated back to South Africa after setting up base in the UK for several years, says following the revelations of criminality and links between the police and organised crime has been a harrowing experience. She used her annual letter to shareholders, published in the group’s annual report, to say her return to South Africa, where she enjoys the status of the country’s richest woman, saw her confronted with a mixed bag with the state of the country. “No one can deny that corruption has become an institutionalised way of doing business.
Listening to the Madlanga commission has been brutal, unlike anything we have heard about from the state capture years,” she said in the letter published on Monday. “This is no longer white-collar crime — these are crimes committed for personal gain at the expense of the physical safety of most South Africans. That the scale of the issue is being exposed in such a transparent manner on a global stage is unprecedented.
Even more unprecedented would be actual change and consequences. “So this is a call to President Cyril Ramaphosa and the outgoing head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Shamila Batohi — you have the opportunity to leave a legacy, to rewrite the story of South Africa and its lawlessness. Not many people can influence history.
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But your time is running out.” Wierzycka left South Africa in 2017 due to safety concerns amid corruption scandals, but recently returned in part due to her deeming the UK as “uninvestable”. “After over seven years with one foot in the UK and one in South Africa, I am moving back to the country I call home. While recent tax changes in the UK certainly played a role, they are not the only reason,” Wierzycka said.
“The world has become deeply polarised — not only due to shifting geopolitical forces but also because of the accelerating race for AI dominance. These seismic shifts in the global order force us to rethink where we can still make a meaningful difference. More than ever, it is about choosing a place where the challenges we face can be transformed into opportunities.” The revelations at the Madlanga inquiry have lifted a veil on South Africa’s underworld and its links to politicians and law enforcement agencies at the highest levels.
The spate of brazen assassinations of whistle-blowers and business rescue practitioners has also escalated as lawlessness grips the country. Sygnia chair Haroon Bhorat also used his letter to investors to decry the rampant graft in South Africa.
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