Watch the full Truth Report interview with Donald Brown and former Hawks General Johan Booysen below.
Corruption in South Africa is not a slogan. It is a survival strategy for those in power. Few people have faced it head-on and lived to tell the story like former Hawks General Johan Booysen. Once branded the head of a so-called hit squad, dragged through courtrooms, and publicly humiliated, Booysen was ultimately vindicated. The High Court ruled his prosecution unconstitutional, and the Sunday Times later apologised for its false reporting.
In his book Blood on Their Hands, Booysen details how politics, greed, and fear hollowed out South Africa’s law enforcement. He recounts how the Hawks once crushed cash-in-transit heists until their success became a threat to the corrupt. When he froze R15 million linked to Edward Zuma, the political machine turned on him. Now working in the private sector, Booysen says the SAPS and the Hawks have lost their skills, leadership, and integrity. The justice system, he warns, is on life support, with corruption stretching from police cells to court benches. Still, he insists that hope is not dead if citizens stop outsourcing outrage to social media and start taking action. Booysen’s message is clear. South Africa’s fight for justice will not be won by commissions or slogans.
It will be won by citizens who refuse to look away and by leaders with the courage to clean house before it is too late.
