Africa and the Global Illicit Economy Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Organized crime in South Africa threatens the economy, its people and the democratic institutions themselves.
Every day we see a number of different and seemingly unconnected criminal incidents taking place - from assassinations to gang rapes in an illegal mining community; and from the violence of the taxi industry to organized cooper theft.
But what lies behind all of these actions is a dark web, a criminal ecosystem driven by an increasingly violent South African underworld.
In this episode Steph Musho talks to Julian Rademeyer, the Director of the East and Southern African Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime about a new and substantial report called 'Assessing South Africa's organized crime risk'.

The Cape Flats in South Africa is made up of 20 suburbs make up the Cape Flats; populated predominantly by black and coloured communities, a term used to describe those of mixed-heritage. Each suburb is marked by poverty, crime, drug abuse, gangsterism and violence.
In this, Lindy Mtongana's final episode, she looks at the Grassy Park where a slew of recent killings has exposed the devastating consequences of territorial battles among the Cape’s most dangerous gangs.
Presenter: Lindy Mtongana
Guests:
Julia Stanyard, Senior Analyst, Observatory for East and Southern Africa, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
Lyndsay Connelly, a community organiser in Grassy Park.
Additional Links:
Civil Society Observatory of Illicit Economies in Eastern and Southern Africa - Risk Bulletin - Issue 25
The Global Organized Crime Index - South Africa
Global Assassination Monitor
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

In this episode Lindy delves into the murky world of political assassinations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Where, according to the GI-TOC's assassination monitor data, for three of the last six years, political assassinations were higher than all other South African provinces combined.
Presenter: Lindy Mtongana
Speaker(s):
Greg Arde, Journalist and Author of War Party: How the ANC’s political killings are breaking South Africa
Chwayita Thobela, Analyst, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime
Thapelo Mohale, a shack dweller, and the secretary general of Abahlali baseMjondolo.
Additional Reading:
Eastern and Southern Africa Observatory - Risk Bulletin
The rule of the gun: Hits and assassinations in South Africa, 2000-2017
Give Us More Guns: How South Africa’s gangs were armed
Gun licenses for sale: South Africa's failing firearms control
Murder by Contract: Targeted killings in eastern and southern Africa
The Global Organized Crime Index - South Africa Profile
Global Assassination Monitor
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

In this episode Lindy explores the world of cattle rustling in Mali, an act that has existed for centuries. But cattle rustling has evolved into a highly organized form of criminality involving Islamists and bandits, forcing farmers to arm themselves to protect themselves and their herds.
Presenter: Lindy Mtongana
Speaker: Deo Gumba, Civil Society Coordinator for the West Africa Observatory, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Additional Reading:
West Africa and the Sahel Observatory - Risk Bulletin
West Africa and the Sahel Observatory
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

The Drugs and Development Hub is an initiative that brings together researchers, academics, policymakers and people affected by drug economies to discuss new approaches to drug policy. The ultimate goal is to shift mindsets towards more socially conscious and public-health oriented approach.
This is the second episode covering the DDH. In this podcast Lindy sits down with a range of regional experts to discuss the issues.
Drugs and Development Hub Twitter
Presenter: Lindy Mtongana
Speakers:
Deborah Alimi, Independent Researcher on Drug Policy at Sorbonne University;
Chinwike Okerere, the Founder and CEO of the African Law Foundation in Nigeria
Maria-Goretti Ane, International Drug Policy Consortium in Accra, Ghana.
Monique Marks, the Head of the Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa.
Additional Reading:
A Synthetic Age: The Evolution of Methamphetamine Markets in Eastern and Southern Africa
Drug markets in eastern and southern Africa: An overview of the current illicit drug economies and recent developments, drawing from the Global Initiative's ongoing studies in the country.
A Shallow Flood: The Diffusion of Heroin in Eastern and Southern Africa
A rising tide: Trends in production, trafficking and consumption of drugs in North Africa
West Africa's Cocaine Corridor: Building a subregional response
Global Organized Crime Index

In this episode, Lindy explores the case of Lual Lawrence Malong Yor, a South Sudanese businessman with a compulsion for flamboyant self promotion. But last year he was jailed in Uganda for masterminding a million-dollar fake gold scam. The Malong case is emblematic of a prolific problem in East Africa's gold Market. At the heart of these scams are criminal networks operating in Nairobi and Kampala, with connections in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Presenter: Lindy Mtongana
Speaker: Julius Kaka, Field Network Coordinator for East and Southern Africa, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime
Additional Reading:
Civil Society Observatory of Illicit Economies in Eastern and Southern Africa - Risk Bulletin - Issue 24
Sudans Post - ‘Young Tycoon’ Lawrence Lual Malong sentenced to 6 years in jail over $1m gold scam
(GITOC Paper) Illicit gold markets in East and Southern Africa