A man who police unofficially believe is one of the people involved in the assassinations of liquidators Thomas and Cloete Murray was himself assassinated outside Johannesburg's Milpark Hospital.

The man, identified as Burnett Hermanus, was apparently sitting in a car at the hospital when the assassins struck on Wednesday evening. He died at the scene.

Sources told The Common Sense that Hermanus was a known underworld figure who is suspected of involvement in other killings. He was apparently at the hospital to visit a friend who had himself survived an attempt on his life.

The Murray pair were gunned down in 2023. They were reportedly handling liquidation cases that exposed massive fraud and corruption when they were killed.

The police say that there are still no official suspects in the Murray killings.

Sources suggest the police were closing in on Hermanus and he was murdered to make sure he would not talk to the police.

His assassination comes just days after South Africa's former police minister, Nathi Mthethwa fell from a 22nd floor window of a Paris hotel. The former minister had just days earlier been implicated in corruption networks by testimony in the Madlanga commission.

South Africa has experienced a series of high-profile assassinations of people investigating or handling evidence linked to corruption.

Last month insolvency attorney Bouwer van Niekerk was assassinated in his Houghton law office. Like the Murrays he had been handling cases that touched on massive corruption.

In July a government audit clerk, Mpho Mafole was assassinated after he flagged information on corruption in Ekurhuleni.

At the time the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners wrote: "The brutal assassination of Mpho Mafole is not only a profound tragedy but a stark and urgent reminder of the grave dangers posed by entrenched corruption and criminal impunity in our society...Mpho’s murder is a direct attack on the values of integrity, accountability, and justice. It embodies the escalating consequences faced by those who dare to confront fraud and corruption. This moment must serve as a catalyst, not for fear, but for decisive action."

In December 2024, South African Revenue Service advocate Coreth Naudé was ambushed in Durban but survived despite being shot and severely wounded. She had been investigating tax affairs that allegedly touched on significant corruption.