1 00:00:05,631 --> 00:00:11,136 [ambient traffic noise] 2 00:00:13,013 --> 00:00:14,806 [Mariana Van Zeller] When we were going to do a story about 3 00:00:14,806 --> 00:00:18,268 assassins, I honestly didn't think that we were going to be 4 00:00:18,268 --> 00:00:21,313 filming here in Los Angeles. 5 00:00:21,813 --> 00:00:24,233 [train horn] 6 00:00:25,275 --> 00:00:28,445 We're about to meet our contact. 7 00:00:28,987 --> 00:00:32,366 Supposedly he's found somebody who's willing to talk to us. 8 00:00:33,700 --> 00:00:35,035 You want to come in? 9 00:00:37,663 --> 00:00:39,039 [Mariana Van Zeller] So he's around here somewhere? 10 00:00:44,586 --> 00:00:45,796 [Mariana Van Zeller] Is he nervous to the point that 11 00:00:45,796 --> 00:00:46,672 things can get ugly? 12 00:00:47,589 --> 00:00:48,090 [Mariana Van Zeller] It's unsafe for us? 13 00:00:55,931 --> 00:00:57,557 [Mariana Van Zeller] Okay, I'm stopping here for a second 14 00:00:57,557 --> 00:00:59,685 because I think before we meet him, we should talk. 15 00:00:59,685 --> 00:01:01,228 So he's for sure an assassin? 16 00:01:03,855 --> 00:01:04,940 -For a hit? -Yeah. 17 00:01:12,864 --> 00:01:13,365 [Mariana Van Zeller] Oh, [bleep]. 18 00:01:16,576 --> 00:01:17,995 [Mariana Van Zeller] As a journalist 19 00:01:17,995 --> 00:01:19,454 covering the underworld, 20 00:01:19,454 --> 00:01:22,416 I've seen almost everything that can be trafficked, 21 00:01:22,416 --> 00:01:24,334 trafficked, 22 00:01:24,334 --> 00:01:28,964 but there's one trade that's always been just out of reach, 23 00:01:30,007 --> 00:01:33,385 where the product is death itself. 24 00:01:33,385 --> 00:01:35,012 [gunshot] 25 00:01:35,012 --> 00:01:38,181 This is as black as the black market gets. 26 00:01:44,563 --> 00:01:47,566 [Mariana Van Zeller] In 2019 and 2020 alone, 27 00:01:47,566 --> 00:01:51,611 hitmen murdered nearly 3,000 people around the world. 28 00:01:51,903 --> 00:01:55,949 And the killing game shows no signs of letting up. 29 00:01:57,492 --> 00:01:58,660 This is him, right? 30 00:01:58,660 --> 00:01:59,745 [T] Yeah 31 00:02:05,584 --> 00:02:06,126 [Mariana Van Zeller] By covering you, yes. 32 00:02:08,628 --> 00:02:09,713 [Mariana Van Zeller] We're changing your voice. 33 00:02:17,596 --> 00:02:20,891 [theme music plays] 34 00:02:35,614 --> 00:02:37,240 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, I'm going to be blunt and just ask 35 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:39,117 you the ques, so you, you, you kill people? 36 00:02:39,785 --> 00:02:40,535 [Mariana Van Zeller] Pay you to kill people? 37 00:02:49,628 --> 00:02:51,797 [Mariana Van Zeller] Is it always here in the city, in LA? 38 00:02:53,632 --> 00:02:54,591 [Mariana Van Zeller] All around the country? 39 00:02:58,261 --> 00:02:59,388 [Mariana Van Zeller] How many times have you done it? 40 00:03:01,056 --> 00:03:02,641 [Mariana Van Zeller] More than ten? 41 00:03:04,810 --> 00:03:06,770 [Mariana] Do you remember the first time you did it? 42 00:03:08,939 --> 00:03:10,190 [Mariana Van Zeller] Is it easy? 43 00:03:17,906 --> 00:03:20,033 [Mariana Van Zeller] Do you do any surveillance beforehand? 44 00:03:23,412 --> 00:03:23,995 [Mariana Van Zeller] Yeah, what... 45 00:03:29,668 --> 00:03:31,670 [Mariana Van Zeller] Do you have limits though or boundaries? 46 00:03:31,670 --> 00:03:32,671 Are there certain people that... 47 00:03:33,588 --> 00:03:34,381 [Mariana Van Zeller] Like what? 48 00:03:37,759 --> 00:03:39,261 [Mariana Van Zeller] But a father is okay? 49 00:03:41,721 --> 00:03:42,931 [Mariana Van Zeller] Do you have kids? 50 00:03:44,266 --> 00:03:47,185 [Mariana Van Zeller] But there is a part of you that has to 51 00:03:47,185 --> 00:03:49,062 feel a little bad, knowing that 52 00:03:49,062 --> 00:03:51,064 these are people who have people who love them, right? 53 00:03:51,064 --> 00:03:52,107 They have families. 54 00:03:58,738 --> 00:03:59,990 [Mariana] Okay, I won't talk about your kids anymore. 55 00:03:59,990 --> 00:04:00,949 [Hitman] Yeah. 56 00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:07,330 [Mariana Van Zeller] You're getting tired? 57 00:04:12,794 --> 00:04:13,920 [Mariana Van Zeller] Okay. 58 00:04:14,171 --> 00:04:15,922 I mean if you have to leave, you have to leave. 59 00:04:15,922 --> 00:04:18,675 And just like that, the interview is over. 60 00:04:18,675 --> 00:04:19,801 [Hitman] Bye. 61 00:04:20,135 --> 00:04:21,720 [Mariana Van Zeller] I have so many more questions. 62 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,682 So much more I want to know about hitmen and what they do. 63 00:04:26,391 --> 00:04:29,853 But assassins are paid to silence their victims, 64 00:04:29,853 --> 00:04:33,064 and to stay silent about it. 65 00:04:35,025 --> 00:04:36,401 In my career, 66 00:04:36,401 --> 00:04:39,321 I've run into many people who kill for a living. 67 00:04:40,155 --> 00:04:41,573 Sicarios in Mexico. 68 00:04:47,788 --> 00:04:50,040 [Mariana Van Zeller] Gang members in Brazil and Colombia. 69 00:04:56,588 --> 00:04:58,924 [Mariana Van Zeller] Even a hitman in Amsterdam. 70 00:04:58,924 --> 00:05:00,884 Would you shoot a journalist if you were paid to? 71 00:05:02,886 --> 00:05:05,722 [Mariana Van Zeller] It's a global phenomenon. 72 00:05:05,722 --> 00:05:08,934 Hitmen make headlines around the world. 73 00:05:08,934 --> 00:05:12,646 [Reporter] A hit squad pulls up and a hooded assassin unloads. 74 00:05:13,063 --> 00:05:14,731 [Mariana Van Zeller] Yet little is known about how 75 00:05:14,731 --> 00:05:17,234 contract killers actually work, 76 00:05:17,234 --> 00:05:20,195 or what drives them to make a living out of killing. 77 00:05:20,195 --> 00:05:22,113 [gunshot] 78 00:05:23,490 --> 00:05:26,785 For that I need to go to a country where they thrive 79 00:05:26,785 --> 00:05:29,079 like few others. 80 00:05:30,413 --> 00:05:32,749 [chopping] 81 00:05:32,749 --> 00:05:34,751 [drumming] 82 00:05:34,751 --> 00:05:38,838 South Africa, where news of the latest hit 83 00:05:38,838 --> 00:05:41,591 is an almost daily occurrence. 84 00:05:42,842 --> 00:05:45,762 [Anchor] Yet another whistle blower has been gunned down. 85 00:05:46,304 --> 00:05:48,723 [Reporter] He was assassinated, ambushed by two gunmen. 86 00:05:48,723 --> 00:05:49,683 [gunshot] 87 00:05:50,850 --> 00:05:52,769 [Mariana Van Zeller] In the last seven years alone, 88 00:05:52,769 --> 00:05:56,398 assassins here have killed more than 1,000 people. 89 00:05:57,274 --> 00:05:59,860 I want to know how that's possible. 90 00:06:09,035 --> 00:06:11,121 So how far are we, more or less? 91 00:06:11,121 --> 00:06:13,248 [Yanda] Like one minute. 92 00:06:13,248 --> 00:06:14,291 [Mariana Van Zeller] Okay. 93 00:06:14,749 --> 00:06:16,751 So we should start getting closer to you guys here, right? 94 00:06:16,751 --> 00:06:18,295 [Yanda] All right, all right. 95 00:06:19,629 --> 00:06:21,673 [Mariana Van Zeller] I'm on my way to the epicenter of 96 00:06:21,673 --> 00:06:24,759 South Africa's assassination epidemic. 97 00:06:25,093 --> 00:06:28,388 So we're following the white Range Rover. 98 00:06:28,388 --> 00:06:31,057 The two cars are full of bodyguards, one in front 99 00:06:31,057 --> 00:06:32,726 and one right behind. 100 00:06:32,726 --> 00:06:35,395 This is where things start to get a little heated. 101 00:06:35,395 --> 00:06:38,565 So we have to make sure, oh look, look at that. 102 00:06:42,902 --> 00:06:47,657 [♪ intensifying music] 103 00:06:47,657 --> 00:06:50,994 This is not gang territory, or cartel country. 104 00:06:51,453 --> 00:06:55,123 Incredibly, it's a minibus taxi center. 105 00:06:55,707 --> 00:06:59,669 Where I'm headed to meet a man with a target on his back. 106 00:07:00,420 --> 00:07:03,632 Look at that, this is insane. 107 00:07:04,174 --> 00:07:06,092 I mean, seriously, he's more protected than the President, 108 00:07:06,092 --> 00:07:08,803 it seems. 109 00:07:09,929 --> 00:07:12,390 Okay, so, I'm going to go out and meet him. 110 00:07:16,102 --> 00:07:18,438 Hi, Yanda, how are you? 111 00:07:18,855 --> 00:07:20,148 [Yanda] Hi. 112 00:07:20,148 --> 00:07:21,191 [Mariana Van Zeller] Nice to meet you. 113 00:07:21,524 --> 00:07:23,401 You're the most important person in South Africa 114 00:07:23,401 --> 00:07:25,362 it seems from all your security guys. 115 00:07:25,362 --> 00:07:28,198 [Yanda] Yeah, I would say in this area. 116 00:07:28,198 --> 00:07:29,115 [Mariana Van Zeller] Yeah. 117 00:07:29,491 --> 00:07:31,534 [Yanda] I am the most important person, yes. 118 00:07:32,077 --> 00:07:34,496 [Mariana Van Zeller] Yanda is what is known in South Africa 119 00:07:34,496 --> 00:07:39,417 as a taxi boss, he runs a fleet of 500 minibus taxis, 120 00:07:39,417 --> 00:07:43,213 a lucrative gig, but not for the faint of heart. 121 00:07:44,089 --> 00:07:45,965 So why so much protection? 122 00:07:45,965 --> 00:07:47,300 And what's happening around us? 123 00:07:47,300 --> 00:07:49,678 [Yanda] I've been attacked five times. 124 00:07:49,678 --> 00:07:51,179 [Mariana Van Zeller] You've been attacked five times? 125 00:07:51,179 --> 00:07:53,056 -Yes. -By whom? 126 00:07:53,056 --> 00:07:55,517 [Yanda] Um, by the opposition. 127 00:07:55,517 --> 00:07:57,477 There's always an opposition. 128 00:07:57,477 --> 00:08:00,897 I've been told they are paid more than a million to... 129 00:08:00,897 --> 00:08:02,190 [Mariana Van Zeller] To try to kill you? 130 00:08:02,190 --> 00:08:03,191 [Yanda] To kill me, yes. 131 00:08:03,191 --> 00:08:07,445 [honking] 132 00:08:08,321 --> 00:08:10,323 [Mariana Van Zeller] In South Africa, the taxi game 133 00:08:10,323 --> 00:08:13,493 is big business, 134 00:08:14,869 --> 00:08:19,749 the industry transports nearly 70% of South African commuters. 135 00:08:19,749 --> 00:08:23,378 With an estimated 10 million commuter trips every day, 136 00:08:23,378 --> 00:08:27,841 raking in around $4.7 billion a year. 137 00:08:28,633 --> 00:08:31,428 And with so much money at stake, the fight to control 138 00:08:31,428 --> 00:08:34,597 the most lucrative routes is brutal. 139 00:08:35,014 --> 00:08:36,433 [honking] 140 00:08:36,433 --> 00:08:38,685 [gunshots] 141 00:08:38,685 --> 00:08:40,645 [Bystander] Oh my god, oh no! 142 00:08:40,979 --> 00:08:42,647 [eNCA Anchor] Police have launched a massive manhunt 143 00:08:42,647 --> 00:08:45,692 following a deadly attack on a fully loaded taxi. 144 00:08:45,692 --> 00:08:47,569 [Mariana Van Zeller] A quick search online brings up dozens 145 00:08:47,569 --> 00:08:51,156 of videos and news clips that paint a gruesome portrait of 146 00:08:51,156 --> 00:08:53,032 the industry. 147 00:08:53,032 --> 00:08:54,534 [eNCA Reporter] This latest incident has highlighted the 148 00:08:54,534 --> 00:08:57,120 problem of taxi violence. 149 00:08:58,413 --> 00:09:00,331 [Mariana Van Zeller] Rival taxi syndicates torch each 150 00:09:00,331 --> 00:09:01,458 other's vehicles. 151 00:09:01,458 --> 00:09:03,668 [gunshots] 152 00:09:03,668 --> 00:09:05,128 Shootouts are common. 153 00:09:07,881 --> 00:09:10,675 [Mariana Van Zeller] And for some taxi bosses hiring hitmen 154 00:09:10,675 --> 00:09:12,552 to take out their competition 155 00:09:12,552 --> 00:09:15,346 is the fastest way to higher profits. 156 00:09:15,346 --> 00:09:17,557 [SABC Reporter] Streets have become hunting grounds for 157 00:09:17,557 --> 00:09:20,685 assassins involved in an ongoing taxi feud. 158 00:09:20,685 --> 00:09:22,270 [gunshots] 159 00:09:23,646 --> 00:09:25,940 [Yanda] Taxi people only believe in one thing, 160 00:09:25,940 --> 00:09:29,360 they believe that in order for you to control this, 161 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,155 you must kill this person. You know? 162 00:09:32,155 --> 00:09:37,076 Even the last incident, I had one bullet, AK47, 163 00:09:37,076 --> 00:09:38,286 stuck in my head. 164 00:09:38,286 --> 00:09:39,662 [Mariana Van Zeller] No. 165 00:09:39,662 --> 00:09:41,164 [Yanda] Those are the scars as you can see. 166 00:09:41,164 --> 00:09:42,332 [Mariana Van Zeller] Oh, wow. I see it, yeah. 167 00:09:42,624 --> 00:09:45,168 And the people that shot at you, were they hired hitmen? 168 00:09:49,672 --> 00:09:53,343 [chatter] 169 00:09:53,343 --> 00:09:54,803 [Mariana Van Zeller] Do you always feel on edge when 170 00:09:54,803 --> 00:09:55,887 you're here in your place? 171 00:09:56,262 --> 00:09:58,723 [Yanda] Always, because whenever I'm here, I'm not safe. 172 00:09:58,723 --> 00:10:01,059 I always have my firearm. 173 00:10:01,059 --> 00:10:03,353 This is my baby. 174 00:10:03,353 --> 00:10:05,188 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, if you were to leave right now 175 00:10:05,188 --> 00:10:08,691 and walk outside without your bodyguards, what would happen? 176 00:10:08,691 --> 00:10:10,568 How long do you think you'd last before somebody tried 177 00:10:10,568 --> 00:10:12,278 to shoot at you? 178 00:10:12,278 --> 00:10:13,822 [Yanda] Not more than 15 minutes. 179 00:10:13,822 --> 00:10:15,698 [Mariana Van Zeller] Wow. 180 00:10:15,698 --> 00:10:18,201 That's a crazy way to live, like that. 181 00:10:18,201 --> 00:10:20,203 [Yanda] Yeah. 182 00:10:21,704 --> 00:10:24,624 [Mariana Van Zeller] Yanda's rivals, the people who he says 183 00:10:24,624 --> 00:10:27,043 have hired hitmen to kill him, 184 00:10:27,043 --> 00:10:29,504 have their base just around the corner, 185 00:10:29,504 --> 00:10:31,714 and he wants to show me what happens 186 00:10:31,714 --> 00:10:34,467 when he gets close to their turf. 187 00:10:34,759 --> 00:10:36,594 This feels a lot more unprotected, 188 00:10:36,594 --> 00:10:38,304 we're not surrounded by your taxis. 189 00:10:38,304 --> 00:10:40,682 [Yanda] Yes, yes, yes. 190 00:10:40,682 --> 00:10:46,354 That side, that's where, if we go there, anything can happen. 191 00:10:46,354 --> 00:10:47,689 [Mariana Van Zeller] Shall we stay here? 192 00:10:47,689 --> 00:10:49,440 [Yanda] No, let's come a little bit. 193 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:50,608 Yes. 194 00:10:50,859 --> 00:10:51,818 [Mariana Van Zeller] I'm with you, I'll do whatever 195 00:10:51,818 --> 00:10:54,362 you say is safe. 196 00:10:54,654 --> 00:10:58,366 [Yanda] As you can see, those taxis parked there. 197 00:10:58,366 --> 00:10:59,492 [Mariana Van Zeller] Oh, yeah. 198 00:10:59,909 --> 00:11:01,744 All the vans over there, that, it's another parking lot. 199 00:11:01,744 --> 00:11:03,663 And that's the other, that's his rivals, the other taxi 200 00:11:03,663 --> 00:11:06,583 association and the people who, he says, 201 00:11:06,583 --> 00:11:07,959 have been trying to kill him. 202 00:11:07,959 --> 00:11:10,545 [Yanda] Yes, that's correct. 203 00:11:11,588 --> 00:11:14,007 Some are coming. 204 00:11:14,257 --> 00:11:15,717 [Mariana Van Zeller] Oh, yeah, they all came out with 205 00:11:15,717 --> 00:11:17,802 their own guns. 206 00:11:17,802 --> 00:11:20,138 This is so crazy like one, two, three, four, five, six, 207 00:11:20,138 --> 00:11:23,850 seven, eight armed guys walking right towards us. 208 00:11:29,355 --> 00:11:31,024 [Mariana Van Zeller] That is crazy, 209 00:11:31,024 --> 00:11:33,067 so now they seem to be talking. 210 00:11:33,067 --> 00:11:35,612 [Yanda] But you can see that they're not happy. 211 00:11:35,612 --> 00:11:37,614 [Mariana Van Zeller] No. 212 00:11:37,614 --> 00:11:39,908 I'm in South Africa with a taxi boss, 213 00:11:39,908 --> 00:11:41,993 facing down his rivals, 214 00:11:41,993 --> 00:11:46,414 rivals he says have hired a hit squad to take him out. 215 00:11:47,498 --> 00:11:49,500 Are we poking the bear a little bit too much here? 216 00:11:49,500 --> 00:11:50,418 Are we? 217 00:11:50,877 --> 00:11:54,047 [Yanda] Yes, kind of, but this is our daily life. 218 00:11:54,797 --> 00:11:56,424 [Mariana Van Zeller] Yeah, he's waving us away 219 00:11:56,424 --> 00:11:57,216 saying go, go, go. 220 00:11:57,842 --> 00:11:59,761 So they're obviously not happy that we were there. 221 00:11:59,761 --> 00:12:02,847 I mean, I can see how things can change really fast. 222 00:12:02,847 --> 00:12:04,057 [Yanda] Yes. 223 00:12:04,057 --> 00:12:05,099 [Mariana Van Zeller] And this can become bad. 224 00:12:05,099 --> 00:12:07,185 [Yanda] Oh, anytime. 225 00:12:08,269 --> 00:12:10,063 [Mariana Van Zeller] The taxi business accounts for nearly 226 00:12:10,063 --> 00:12:13,191 half of all assassinations in South Africa. 227 00:12:13,691 --> 00:12:16,778 And it's become a breeding ground for hitmen. 228 00:12:17,737 --> 00:12:20,657 How easy is it to hire inkabi here? 229 00:12:20,657 --> 00:12:22,033 [Yanda] Very easy. 230 00:12:22,033 --> 00:12:24,786 In fact, they come to you and ask for a job. 231 00:12:24,786 --> 00:12:26,955 Is there anyone we can kill for you? 232 00:12:26,955 --> 00:12:28,456 [Mariana Van Zeller] No! That's happened? 233 00:12:28,456 --> 00:12:30,083 [Yanda] Yeah, that happens. 234 00:12:30,083 --> 00:12:32,335 [Mariana Van Zeller] Have you ever hired a hitman? 235 00:12:32,335 --> 00:12:34,128 [Yanda] Yes, I have. 236 00:12:34,128 --> 00:12:35,922 [Mariana Van Zeller] To kill somebody else? 237 00:12:35,922 --> 00:12:38,549 [laughing] 238 00:12:38,549 --> 00:12:40,843 [Yanda] To do the same thing that they're doing to me. 239 00:12:40,843 --> 00:12:42,053 [Mariana Van Zeller] You were trying to kill the person who 240 00:12:42,053 --> 00:12:43,638 was trying to kill you? 241 00:12:43,638 --> 00:12:45,765 [Yanda] Yes, that's correct. 242 00:12:45,765 --> 00:12:48,184 [Mariana Van Zeller] It seems to be a bit of a cycle, right? 243 00:12:48,184 --> 00:12:49,894 Because somebody tries to kill you, 244 00:12:49,894 --> 00:12:51,479 you try to kill somebody else. 245 00:12:51,479 --> 00:12:54,148 And it seems like it's a never ending cycle of violence. 246 00:12:54,148 --> 00:12:57,193 [Yanda] That's how it's been happening and I don't think 247 00:12:57,193 --> 00:13:00,905 anyone can be able to stop this. 248 00:13:01,906 --> 00:13:03,992 [Mariana Van Zeller] It's a never ending cycle of violence 249 00:13:03,992 --> 00:13:06,619 that Yanda knows all too well. 250 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,039 But when I ask him if he could connect me with a hitman, 251 00:13:10,039 --> 00:13:12,709 he says no. 252 00:13:12,709 --> 00:13:14,627 [Yanda] 'Cause I have got a lot of enemies. 253 00:13:14,627 --> 00:13:18,798 I'm their number one target. I'm not safe. 254 00:13:19,465 --> 00:13:22,093 [Mariana Van Zeller] What he did tell me was this, 255 00:13:22,093 --> 00:13:24,595 some taxi bosses have a side hustle 256 00:13:24,595 --> 00:13:26,931 running networks of assassins 257 00:13:26,931 --> 00:13:29,976 that they hire out for high paying hits 258 00:13:29,976 --> 00:13:33,396 on whistleblowers, business leaders and politicians. 259 00:13:40,653 --> 00:13:43,740 We're joining an elite anti-gang unit on a raid 260 00:13:43,740 --> 00:13:47,660 as they close in on one of these assassin networks. 261 00:13:48,286 --> 00:13:51,164 We're heading for a house that is believed to belong to 262 00:13:51,164 --> 00:13:52,915 a taxi boss. 263 00:13:52,915 --> 00:13:56,794 It's a convoy of about 20 cars and about 35 men. 264 00:14:00,965 --> 00:14:03,718 We're in one of Durban's vast urban slums, 265 00:14:03,718 --> 00:14:07,972 created during the country's era of forced racial segregation 266 00:14:07,972 --> 00:14:10,266 known as apartheid. 267 00:14:10,516 --> 00:14:13,686 It was a violent system designed to keep Black South Africans 268 00:14:13,686 --> 00:14:16,939 in poverty, and its dark legacy remains. 269 00:14:38,544 --> 00:14:40,797 [Mariana Van Zeller] As we pull up, the SWAT team 270 00:14:40,797 --> 00:14:42,340 storms the house. 271 00:14:42,340 --> 00:14:47,178 [speaking native language] 272 00:14:47,178 --> 00:14:49,430 [Mariana Van Zeller] Look, look, oh yeah, do you see them? 273 00:14:49,430 --> 00:14:53,309 [speaking native language] 274 00:14:53,309 --> 00:14:55,311 [Mariana Van Zeller] It's right here. Follow me. 275 00:14:55,311 --> 00:14:57,772 [Dina] Somebody has a breaching tool! 276 00:14:59,148 --> 00:15:02,026 [Mariana Van Zeller] So they're breaching the door right now. 277 00:15:03,027 --> 00:15:04,779 Okay. So he said that, that we can't go close right. 278 00:15:04,779 --> 00:15:06,197 [speaking native language] 279 00:15:06,197 --> 00:15:07,532 [Mariana Van Zeller] Oh, wow. 280 00:15:07,532 --> 00:15:11,202 [speaking foreign language] 281 00:15:11,202 --> 00:15:12,537 [Mariana Van Zeller] There's a dozen men and they're sort of 282 00:15:12,829 --> 00:15:17,250 securing the premise, watching all windows and access points. 283 00:15:17,875 --> 00:15:19,961 I'm gonna go behind you, yeah? 284 00:15:24,674 --> 00:15:29,428 [♪ intense dramatic music] 285 00:15:29,428 --> 00:15:31,222 [Dina] Clear? Clear? 286 00:15:31,222 --> 00:15:32,890 [Mariana Van Zeller] Is it clear? 287 00:15:33,141 --> 00:15:35,309 It seems to be clear right now. 288 00:15:35,309 --> 00:15:37,478 So they have the suspects here on the floor, right here. 289 00:15:37,478 --> 00:15:39,981 And they're still searching. 290 00:15:42,650 --> 00:15:44,443 [Dina] Is the rifle there? 291 00:15:44,443 --> 00:15:46,195 [Mariana Van Zeller] So far they've recovered three 292 00:15:46,195 --> 00:15:48,865 firearms and I believe they have one more suspect 293 00:15:48,865 --> 00:15:51,117 being taken out now. 294 00:15:52,618 --> 00:15:54,954 The police tell me the suspected hitman was caught 295 00:15:54,954 --> 00:15:57,498 with an illegal automatic weapon 296 00:15:57,498 --> 00:16:01,169 and was dressed in the uniform of a private security company 297 00:16:01,169 --> 00:16:05,047 which I've heard is a disguise that hitmen here often use. 298 00:16:06,632 --> 00:16:09,760 That's because in South Africa licensed security guards, 299 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:14,682 like Yanda's men, are allowed to carry fully-automatic firearms 300 00:16:14,682 --> 00:16:17,268 not available to the average person. 301 00:16:17,268 --> 00:16:18,769 Oh, so that's the assault rifle? 302 00:16:18,769 --> 00:16:19,896 [Cop] Assault rifle. 303 00:16:19,896 --> 00:16:20,897 [Mariana Van Zeller] What kind is it? 304 00:16:27,653 --> 00:16:29,697 [Mariana Van Zeller] How do they get their hands on these guns? 305 00:16:35,745 --> 00:16:39,040 [Mariana] South Africa is awash with illegal firearms, 306 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,918 more than two million of them, 307 00:16:41,918 --> 00:16:45,588 and they're fueling the assassination epidemic, 308 00:16:45,588 --> 00:16:47,465 [gunshot] 309 00:16:47,465 --> 00:16:51,427 unlicensed weapons are harder for the police to trace, 310 00:16:51,427 --> 00:16:55,723 which makes it easier for the assassins to do their work. 311 00:16:59,477 --> 00:17:02,855 Globally, assassins are known to use car bombs, 312 00:17:02,855 --> 00:17:05,191 IEDs, and poison. 313 00:17:05,191 --> 00:17:08,277 But firearms are their weapon of choice. 314 00:17:14,075 --> 00:17:17,453 So, if i want to find an active hitman, my best bet 315 00:17:17,453 --> 00:17:20,831 is to follow the trail of illegal guns. 316 00:17:28,839 --> 00:17:31,759 I head north to the outskirts of Johannesburg to meet a 317 00:17:31,759 --> 00:17:34,220 contact who can help. 318 00:17:38,933 --> 00:17:40,017 Rudy? 319 00:17:40,017 --> 00:17:40,810 [Rudy] Rudy. 320 00:17:41,060 --> 00:17:42,687 [Mariana Van Zeller] Come on in. 321 00:17:42,687 --> 00:17:44,063 So you tell me how to get, how to go, right? 322 00:17:46,274 --> 00:17:47,400 [Mariana Van Zeller] This guy that we're meeting, 323 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,235 what can you tell me about him? 324 00:17:49,235 --> 00:17:50,361 Is he... 325 00:17:52,863 --> 00:17:53,531 [Mariana] Oh, so he buys and sells weapons to people? 326 00:18:00,871 --> 00:18:01,789 -Now? -Yeah. 327 00:18:02,331 --> 00:18:02,915 [Mariana Van Zeller] Okay. So let's put cameras down, 328 00:18:03,165 --> 00:18:05,084 guys, we're getting close. 329 00:18:08,045 --> 00:18:12,049 The organizer, who we'll call Vusi, is running late. 330 00:18:12,967 --> 00:18:16,137 And when he finally arrives, he explained why. 331 00:18:16,137 --> 00:18:19,390 Okay. So, um, you went to the police station, is that right? 332 00:18:19,390 --> 00:18:20,558 Why? 333 00:18:30,318 --> 00:18:31,777 [Mariana Van Zeller] So the, the 9mm, 334 00:18:31,777 --> 00:18:33,404 you got that from the police? 335 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:45,833 [Mariana Van Zeller] Holy [bleep]. 336 00:18:45,833 --> 00:18:48,544 Vusi tells me that he has bought dozens of handguns 337 00:18:48,544 --> 00:18:50,212 from the police. 338 00:18:50,212 --> 00:18:53,632 His source for heavy weapons is equally shocking. 339 00:18:58,512 --> 00:18:59,388 [Mariana Van Zeller] You get them from the military? 340 00:19:01,015 --> 00:19:02,099 [Mariana Van Zeller] And what kind of weapons are you, 341 00:19:02,099 --> 00:19:03,225 we, talking about? 342 00:19:06,896 --> 00:19:09,440 [Mariana Van Zeller] The R5 is the same model assault rifle 343 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,777 I saw the police confiscate from a suspected hitman. 344 00:19:13,569 --> 00:19:15,696 Most of your clients use it for which, for what? 345 00:19:18,658 --> 00:19:21,744 [Mariana Van Zeller] We really want to meet an inkabi, 346 00:19:21,744 --> 00:19:24,413 an, a hitman who is currently active. 347 00:19:24,413 --> 00:19:26,540 Do you know anyone that you could introduce us to? 348 00:19:39,011 --> 00:19:40,554 [Mariana Van Zeller] Unfortunately, his assassin 349 00:19:40,554 --> 00:19:42,556 turns us down. 350 00:19:43,682 --> 00:19:45,476 But I get lucky. 351 00:19:45,476 --> 00:19:49,230 Another local source comes through with an introduction. 352 00:19:56,028 --> 00:19:57,029 This is it. 353 00:19:57,530 --> 00:20:00,825 After many weeks trying to get a hitman to talk to us, 354 00:20:00,825 --> 00:20:04,036 it looks like we finally have one who has agreed. 355 00:20:04,495 --> 00:20:08,249 It's still surreal to me that this profession even exists, 356 00:20:08,582 --> 00:20:11,210 that someone kills for a living. 357 00:20:12,962 --> 00:20:14,755 [gunshot] 358 00:20:14,755 --> 00:20:16,173 I'd feel more comfortable if 359 00:20:16,173 --> 00:20:18,926 assassins remained a Hollywood trope. 360 00:20:18,926 --> 00:20:21,971 With their cool detachment from death. 361 00:20:25,391 --> 00:20:28,352 [Mariana Van Zeller] Their effortless mastery of weapons. 362 00:20:29,103 --> 00:20:32,148 And their impressive old testament knowledge. 363 00:20:32,565 --> 00:20:34,984 [Jules Winnfield] And I will strike down upon thee 364 00:20:34,984 --> 00:20:36,736 with great vengeance. 365 00:20:36,736 --> 00:20:39,864 [gunshots] 366 00:20:40,156 --> 00:20:41,490 [Vincent] I do this for a living. 367 00:20:45,703 --> 00:20:48,956 [Mariana Van Zeller] But the reality is much less slick. 368 00:20:49,957 --> 00:20:53,752 And in a way, perhaps more scary. 369 00:21:02,470 --> 00:21:06,390 [footsteps] 370 00:21:11,562 --> 00:21:12,938 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, Jojo, right? 371 00:21:13,898 --> 00:21:14,148 [Mariana Van Zeller] It's okay if I call you Jojo? 372 00:21:15,274 --> 00:21:16,942 [Mariana Van Zeller] Well, how did you start? 373 00:21:16,942 --> 00:21:18,903 How did you get into this business? 374 00:21:34,877 --> 00:21:36,754 [Mariana Van Zeller] I'm in South Africa investigating 375 00:21:36,754 --> 00:21:39,924 the world of professional assassins. 376 00:21:39,924 --> 00:21:41,967 Jojo, did you go to school? 377 00:21:45,387 --> 00:21:45,846 [Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-hmm. 378 00:21:58,234 --> 00:21:59,777 [Mariana Van Zeller] And how many people do you think 379 00:21:59,777 --> 00:22:01,529 you've killed in your life? 380 00:22:08,244 --> 00:22:08,619 [Mariana Van Zeller] Close to 30 people? 381 00:22:21,549 --> 00:22:24,635 [Mariana Van Zeller] How much do you get paid per hit? 382 00:22:29,890 --> 00:22:32,643 [Mariana Van Zeller] So that's about $1,400, more or less. 383 00:22:34,228 --> 00:22:35,646 [Mariana Van Zeller] Who gets the rest? 384 00:22:40,234 --> 00:22:41,360 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, how many people do you work with? 385 00:22:52,913 --> 00:22:54,582 [Mariana Van Zeller] One thing that we've heard is that the 386 00:22:54,582 --> 00:22:56,417 police are sometimes even warned when there's going 387 00:22:56,417 --> 00:22:57,459 to be a killing. 388 00:23:08,053 --> 00:23:09,263 [Mariana Van Zeller] Why do you think the situation is so 389 00:23:09,263 --> 00:23:11,390 bad in South Africa? 390 00:23:26,655 --> 00:23:28,407 [Mariana Van Zeller] Jojo reminds me of some of the 391 00:23:28,407 --> 00:23:32,620 other killers I've met, mostly young, always poor, 392 00:23:32,620 --> 00:23:35,205 driven to crime because they believe 393 00:23:35,205 --> 00:23:37,416 it's the only choice they have. 394 00:23:42,129 --> 00:23:44,465 [Mariana Van Zeller] In Mexico, these young men saw it 395 00:23:44,465 --> 00:23:46,634 as a shockingly normal career path. 396 00:23:53,390 --> 00:23:55,267 [Mariana Van Zeller] In Amsterdam, this hitman grew up 397 00:23:55,267 --> 00:23:57,770 in a violent drug-dealing family. 398 00:24:03,817 --> 00:24:05,319 [Mariana Van Zeller] They're all killers? 399 00:24:07,738 --> 00:24:09,782 [Mariana Van Zeller] It's a grim reality. 400 00:24:09,782 --> 00:24:13,535 And as I heard in Los Angeles, too, it often starts young. 401 00:24:13,994 --> 00:24:15,746 How old were you the first time? 402 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:48,195 [Mariana Van Zeller] Do you mind me asking what your parents did? 403 00:24:52,491 --> 00:24:54,076 [Mariana Van Zeller] Were they killed? 404 00:25:10,342 --> 00:25:11,844 [Mariana Van Zeller] What did you think of the person that 405 00:25:11,844 --> 00:25:12,845 killed your parents? 406 00:25:17,558 --> 00:25:19,476 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, you do realize that you're doing 407 00:25:19,476 --> 00:25:21,311 the same thing to other kids, right? 408 00:25:21,311 --> 00:25:23,814 You had a really hard life because your parents were killed 409 00:25:23,814 --> 00:25:26,650 and you're basically doing the same thing to other children. 410 00:25:32,865 --> 00:25:35,075 [Mariana Van Zeller] You never thought about this? 411 00:25:45,294 --> 00:25:46,211 [Mariana Van Zeller] But are they? 412 00:25:46,462 --> 00:25:48,505 Do you consider yourself a bad person? 413 00:26:13,322 --> 00:26:15,657 [Mariana Van Zeller] Uh, yeah, I mean, it was a... 414 00:26:15,657 --> 00:26:17,785 it is horrible what he does. 415 00:26:17,785 --> 00:26:18,952 It is horrible, horrible. 416 00:26:19,369 --> 00:26:21,330 It's the worst thing you can do as a human being is to take 417 00:26:21,330 --> 00:26:23,207 another human being's life. 418 00:26:23,207 --> 00:26:26,960 Um, but at the same time, you hear his story and you can 419 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,756 understand how people fall into this pattern and this 420 00:26:30,756 --> 00:26:33,592 cycle of violence of his parents being killed and then 421 00:26:33,592 --> 00:26:36,011 himself becoming a killer. 422 00:26:36,011 --> 00:26:38,597 And as controversial as this may sound, 423 00:26:38,597 --> 00:26:41,433 I felt sorry for him, yeah. 424 00:26:41,433 --> 00:26:43,852 But I, you know, I feel more sorry for the people that he's 425 00:26:43,852 --> 00:26:45,729 killing, and for the families of the people that he's 426 00:26:45,729 --> 00:26:47,272 killing, of course. 427 00:26:47,272 --> 00:26:51,151 But, yeah, it's a really, really hard one. 428 00:26:56,156 --> 00:27:01,203 [chatter] 429 00:27:01,203 --> 00:27:03,163 [Mariana Van Zeller] Still, the next stop on this journey 430 00:27:03,163 --> 00:27:04,748 is clear, 431 00:27:04,748 --> 00:27:07,209 if I really want to understand assassins, 432 00:27:07,209 --> 00:27:10,671 I need to understand the damage they do. 433 00:27:28,772 --> 00:27:30,649 [sighing] 434 00:27:33,402 --> 00:27:35,279 [sighing] 435 00:27:35,279 --> 00:27:37,823 [Johanna Phenya] I heard the gunshots. 436 00:27:37,823 --> 00:27:40,534 Then I started panicking. 437 00:27:40,534 --> 00:27:42,661 I rushed outside. 438 00:27:42,661 --> 00:27:45,247 That's when I found him. 439 00:27:47,791 --> 00:27:50,460 [Mariana Van Zeller] Johanna Phenya's husband, Eric, 440 00:27:50,460 --> 00:27:53,964 was assassinated in October of 2022. 441 00:27:56,884 --> 00:28:00,846 Witnesses say two hitmen opened fire on Eric's car 442 00:28:00,846 --> 00:28:04,474 minutes after he dropped his children off at school. 443 00:28:05,809 --> 00:28:10,439 [Johanna Phenya] I still have flashbacks of 444 00:28:10,439 --> 00:28:12,941 him lying in the car. 445 00:28:13,859 --> 00:28:18,572 With the bullet holes. 446 00:28:19,197 --> 00:28:22,618 You know, I tried to call his name, you know, 447 00:28:22,618 --> 00:28:27,623 "Sweetie, wake up" like, and like he... 448 00:28:31,168 --> 00:28:33,587 [Mariana Van Zeller] I'm so sorry. 449 00:28:33,587 --> 00:28:36,006 I'm so sorry. 450 00:28:37,007 --> 00:28:39,009 [crying] 451 00:28:39,593 --> 00:28:42,220 Johanna and Eric ran a technology company that was 452 00:28:42,220 --> 00:28:45,682 working with the government on a project when they noticed 453 00:28:45,682 --> 00:28:49,353 a government official trying to steal funds. 454 00:28:49,603 --> 00:28:52,648 Johanna says her husband reported the fraud to the police 455 00:28:52,648 --> 00:28:55,651 and then testified against the official. 456 00:28:56,401 --> 00:28:59,488 His honesty proved fatal. 457 00:29:00,405 --> 00:29:02,824 Johanna and her children are now in hiding, 458 00:29:02,824 --> 00:29:06,745 afraid the hitmen will return to kill them. 459 00:29:07,079 --> 00:29:07,913 [Johanna Phenya] And my daughter was like, 460 00:29:08,330 --> 00:29:11,208 "Mama, what kind of a life are we living?" 461 00:29:11,208 --> 00:29:14,461 Because after we buried my husband, 462 00:29:14,461 --> 00:29:17,464 they were still following us. 463 00:29:17,464 --> 00:29:19,591 They went to their school. 464 00:29:40,946 --> 00:29:44,616 [Johanna Phenya] I, I miss my best friend. 465 00:29:45,909 --> 00:29:49,663 [waves crashing] 466 00:29:53,959 --> 00:29:55,794 [Mariana Van Zeller] There's some nice houses here, huh? 467 00:30:05,053 --> 00:30:08,348 [Mariana Van Zeller] Jojo wasn't involved in Eric's killing. 468 00:30:08,348 --> 00:30:10,726 But as I ride with him through Durban, 469 00:30:10,726 --> 00:30:13,645 I'm very aware of the parallels. 470 00:30:13,937 --> 00:30:16,189 So, if you do have a target who would live in a 471 00:30:16,189 --> 00:30:18,150 neighborhood like this, how would you go about it? 472 00:30:43,508 --> 00:30:45,010 [Mariana Van Zeller] Wait, dressed as police? 473 00:30:45,010 --> 00:30:46,636 How do you get a police uniform? Is that easy? 474 00:30:51,725 --> 00:30:53,310 [Mariana Van Zeller] Do they know what it's for? 475 00:30:55,270 --> 00:30:57,731 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, is that your preferred method? 476 00:31:05,655 --> 00:31:07,115 -Right here? -Yes. You know. 477 00:31:26,718 --> 00:31:30,013 [Mariana Van Zeller] Have you ever shot women and children? 478 00:31:37,354 --> 00:31:39,856 [Mariana] But the kids were there in the house as well? 479 00:31:41,108 --> 00:31:42,150 [Jojo] I don't, I don't. 480 00:31:55,914 --> 00:31:58,959 [children laughing] 481 00:31:59,209 --> 00:32:00,877 [Mariana Van Zeller] It's hard to hear these details and 482 00:32:00,877 --> 00:32:02,796 not think about what Johanna and her children 483 00:32:02,796 --> 00:32:05,215 are now going through. 484 00:32:05,215 --> 00:32:08,510 But it's telling that she doesn't blame the hitmen. 485 00:32:17,686 --> 00:32:20,355 [Johanna Phenya] They could have done something about it. 486 00:32:20,355 --> 00:32:23,191 [siren] 487 00:32:23,859 --> 00:32:25,777 [Mariana Van Zeller] Following Eric's assassination, 488 00:32:25,777 --> 00:32:28,655 the police tracked down the hitmen. 489 00:32:28,947 --> 00:32:31,533 They found the cars they drive and an address where they're 490 00:32:31,533 --> 00:32:33,785 known to frequent. 491 00:32:33,785 --> 00:32:35,495 [Johanna Phenya] They know the suspects and 492 00:32:35,495 --> 00:32:37,455 they're not doing anything. 493 00:32:37,455 --> 00:32:38,832 [Mariana Van Zeller] So nobody has been arrested. 494 00:32:38,832 --> 00:32:40,208 Nothing has happened to anyone? 495 00:32:40,208 --> 00:32:41,209 [Johanna Phenya] No. 496 00:32:41,751 --> 00:32:43,044 [Mariana Van Zeller] Do you think that it's related to the 497 00:32:43,044 --> 00:32:44,754 business deal, the, the contract that you... 498 00:32:44,754 --> 00:32:46,006 [Johanna Phenya] Yeah. 499 00:32:46,006 --> 00:32:46,923 [Mariana Van Zeller] For sure? 500 00:32:46,923 --> 00:32:49,342 [Johanna Phenya] 100%, 100%. 501 00:32:49,926 --> 00:32:52,929 [Mariana Van Zeller] Time and again, this is what we've heard. 502 00:32:57,601 --> 00:32:59,186 [Mariana Van Zeller] So the, that 9mm, 503 00:32:59,186 --> 00:33:00,520 you got that from the police? 504 00:33:03,607 --> 00:33:05,275 [Mariana Van Zeller] But I want to understand how deep 505 00:33:05,275 --> 00:33:07,027 the corruption goes. 506 00:33:07,027 --> 00:33:10,780 And for that, I need to speak to someone on the inside. 507 00:33:11,323 --> 00:33:16,953 He told us to meet him in P6 and hopefully he'll be there. 508 00:33:22,292 --> 00:33:28,715 [♪ dramatic music] 509 00:33:33,637 --> 00:33:35,722 Torrance? 510 00:33:37,307 --> 00:33:39,601 What you're doing is not only risky, but incredibly brave. 511 00:33:54,241 --> 00:33:57,327 [♪ slow ominous music] 512 00:33:57,327 --> 00:33:59,204 [Mariana Van Zeller] Because there's so much risk in doing 513 00:33:59,204 --> 00:34:01,706 this, why did you want to talk to us? 514 00:34:07,796 --> 00:34:09,756 [Mariana Van Zeller] This is Torrance, 515 00:34:09,756 --> 00:34:11,508 it's not his real name. 516 00:34:11,508 --> 00:34:15,387 He spent over 25 years in the South African police service. 517 00:34:29,317 --> 00:34:30,485 [Torrance] Yes. 518 00:34:37,867 --> 00:34:39,369 [Mariana Van Zeller] Have you seen that's happening? 519 00:34:41,538 --> 00:34:42,289 [Mariana Van Zeller] With your own eyes? Like you saw it. 520 00:34:43,707 --> 00:34:45,500 [Mariana Van Zeller] They know full well that these are 521 00:34:45,500 --> 00:34:47,168 assassinations, that people are gonna be murdered? 522 00:34:56,636 --> 00:34:57,887 [Mariana Van Zeller] Do you know police officers who 523 00:34:57,887 --> 00:34:58,847 also became hit men? 524 00:35:01,016 --> 00:35:02,350 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, they work for the hitmen, and in 525 00:35:02,350 --> 00:35:03,476 some cases, they are hitmen themselves. 526 00:35:11,901 --> 00:35:14,362 [Mariana Van Zeller] Wherever murder goes unpunished, 527 00:35:14,362 --> 00:35:18,074 contract killings become a tool of the powerful. 528 00:35:18,074 --> 00:35:20,285 A way to protect corrupt interests. 529 00:35:21,453 --> 00:35:25,165 That's true in Mexico when drug cartels slay journalists. 530 00:35:25,457 --> 00:35:27,792 [BBC Reporter] Four journalists have been killed in Mexico 531 00:35:27,792 --> 00:35:30,211 in just the past two months. 532 00:35:31,129 --> 00:35:32,839 [Mariana Van Zeller] In the Amazon when illegal loggers 533 00:35:32,839 --> 00:35:34,257 kill activists. 534 00:35:34,507 --> 00:35:36,551 [Al Jazeera Reporter] A Peruvian environmentalist and 535 00:35:36,551 --> 00:35:38,845 three other community leaders have been killed in a region 536 00:35:38,845 --> 00:35:40,764 bordering Brazil. 537 00:35:40,764 --> 00:35:42,557 [Mariana Van Zeller] Or in the Netherlands when drug gangs 538 00:35:42,557 --> 00:35:45,727 silence witnesses before a trial. 539 00:35:45,727 --> 00:35:47,687 [News Reporter] Mafia style murders in the Netherlands has 540 00:35:47,687 --> 00:35:50,732 led to questions about whether the drug gangs are threatening 541 00:35:50,732 --> 00:35:52,692 the rule of law. 542 00:35:52,692 --> 00:35:54,277 [Mariana Van Zeller] The fear of assassination becomes a 543 00:35:54,277 --> 00:35:56,112 powerful tool of control. 544 00:35:56,112 --> 00:35:58,615 [sirens] 545 00:35:58,615 --> 00:36:01,618 Especially when the institutions supposed to be 546 00:36:01,618 --> 00:36:05,330 fighting back are in on the take. 547 00:36:05,747 --> 00:36:07,999 This is not just a handful of cops, that are corrupt. 548 00:36:07,999 --> 00:36:10,168 You're talking about systemic corruption. 549 00:36:10,168 --> 00:36:12,128 How far up do you think the corruption actually goes 550 00:36:12,128 --> 00:36:13,380 in South Africa? 551 00:36:18,885 --> 00:36:19,719 [Mariana Van Zeller] Why not? 552 00:36:28,186 --> 00:36:30,188 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, every single person we spoke to for 553 00:36:30,188 --> 00:36:32,941 the story has mentioned police corruption. 554 00:36:32,941 --> 00:36:34,692 This is Bheki Cele, 555 00:36:34,692 --> 00:36:37,278 South Africa's minister of police. 556 00:36:37,278 --> 00:36:40,698 [Bheki Cele] Your job is to enforce the law! 557 00:36:40,698 --> 00:36:42,117 [Mariana Van Zeller] He was once an activist who spent 558 00:36:42,117 --> 00:36:44,869 time in the same prison as Nelson Mandela, 559 00:36:44,869 --> 00:36:47,038 and survived an assassination attempt 560 00:36:47,038 --> 00:36:49,916 at hands of the Apartheid regime. 561 00:36:50,875 --> 00:36:52,710 We've heard of police selling guns, 562 00:36:52,710 --> 00:36:55,714 police being involved in assassination plots. 563 00:36:55,714 --> 00:36:57,424 It's systemic corruption. 564 00:36:57,424 --> 00:36:58,925 What do you say to that? 565 00:36:58,925 --> 00:37:01,386 [Bheki Cele] I think, the... 566 00:37:04,806 --> 00:37:08,393 [Bheki Cele] There are very, very corrupt and dangerous, 567 00:37:08,393 --> 00:37:10,145 dangerous cops. 568 00:37:10,145 --> 00:37:11,896 But that number does not 569 00:37:11,896 --> 00:37:14,274 surpass the number of good police. 570 00:37:14,274 --> 00:37:17,026 That there are many good cops. 571 00:37:17,026 --> 00:37:18,945 [Mariana Van Zeller] Some of the things that we've heard is 572 00:37:18,945 --> 00:37:22,615 that the police have been clearing the area 573 00:37:22,615 --> 00:37:24,909 for assassinations to take place. 574 00:37:24,909 --> 00:37:27,078 Renting their own uniforms 575 00:37:27,078 --> 00:37:30,373 for the hitmen to disguise themselves as police. 576 00:37:30,373 --> 00:37:32,625 It's more than just corruption. 577 00:37:32,625 --> 00:37:35,336 It's that they are actually actively involved 578 00:37:35,336 --> 00:37:38,214 in these killings, in these assassinations. 579 00:37:38,214 --> 00:37:40,300 [Bheki Cele] And it's not denied. 580 00:37:40,300 --> 00:37:43,052 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, you have knowledge that 581 00:37:43,052 --> 00:37:44,304 this is happening? 582 00:37:44,304 --> 00:37:46,222 [Bheki Cele] Exactly. No doubt about that. 583 00:37:46,222 --> 00:37:48,349 People are dying here. 584 00:37:48,683 --> 00:37:51,603 [Mariana Van Zeller] In 2016, South Africa created a special 585 00:37:51,603 --> 00:37:55,023 task force to address its assassination crisis. 586 00:37:55,940 --> 00:38:02,238 Since then, Bheki Cele says 337 assassins have been arrested. 587 00:38:10,038 --> 00:38:11,664 [Mariana Van Zeller] Well, that's an enormous number, 588 00:38:11,664 --> 00:38:14,459 but that doesn't make you feel any safer to think that those 589 00:38:14,459 --> 00:38:16,544 are the people that have been arrested, so you can only 590 00:38:16,544 --> 00:38:18,588 imagine how many are out there. 591 00:38:18,588 --> 00:38:21,007 [Bheki Cele] There are many of the murderers about. 592 00:38:21,007 --> 00:38:23,843 But it, it would be unfair to say that government is 593 00:38:23,843 --> 00:38:25,845 not fighting back on this course. 594 00:38:25,845 --> 00:38:27,764 Have we won? No. 595 00:38:27,764 --> 00:38:29,641 Are we doing something? Yes. 596 00:38:29,641 --> 00:38:31,226 [Mariana Van Zeller] Uh-huh. Okay, very fair. 597 00:38:31,226 --> 00:38:33,061 Minister, one more question. 598 00:38:33,061 --> 00:38:35,855 You have fought hard for democracy in this country. 599 00:38:35,855 --> 00:38:37,565 You yourself were an activist. 600 00:38:37,565 --> 00:38:39,317 You were arrested while fighting for democracy 601 00:38:39,317 --> 00:38:40,860 in this country. 602 00:38:40,860 --> 00:38:43,947 Is this the democracy that you envisioned, when you have 603 00:38:43,947 --> 00:38:46,616 widespread and systemic corruption like you said, 604 00:38:46,616 --> 00:38:51,538 but also when people try to fight it, they can be killed? 605 00:39:00,338 --> 00:39:02,924 [Mariana Van Zeller] I spent time with, uh, this woman. 606 00:39:02,924 --> 00:39:04,634 And it's a story I will never forget. 607 00:39:04,634 --> 00:39:07,387 Her name is Johanna Phenya. 608 00:39:07,387 --> 00:39:08,846 I'm with Bheki Cele, 609 00:39:08,846 --> 00:39:10,974 South Africa's minister of police. 610 00:39:10,974 --> 00:39:14,269 Her husband and her started exposing corruption within 611 00:39:14,269 --> 00:39:17,897 the government and started receiving death threats. 612 00:39:17,897 --> 00:39:21,442 She went to the police, gave them all the evidence. 613 00:39:22,026 --> 00:39:23,278 The police did nothing. 614 00:39:23,278 --> 00:39:25,572 And a few weeks later, her husband was killed. 615 00:39:25,572 --> 00:39:28,074 So what would you say to people like Johanna? 616 00:39:28,074 --> 00:39:29,701 And there are many of them out there. 617 00:39:29,701 --> 00:39:34,706 [Bheki Cele] Well, South Africa has a very high 618 00:39:34,706 --> 00:39:36,833 degree of murders. 619 00:39:36,833 --> 00:39:38,876 But there are many of them 620 00:39:38,876 --> 00:39:42,046 that have been prevented to be hit. 621 00:39:42,046 --> 00:39:44,340 Unfortunately, those stories 622 00:39:44,340 --> 00:39:46,801 don't make their way to the media. 623 00:39:46,801 --> 00:39:48,136 [Mariana Van Zeller] So, you know about this case? 624 00:39:48,136 --> 00:39:49,846 [Bheki Cele] I have heard about it. Yes. 625 00:39:49,846 --> 00:39:51,556 [Mariana Van Zeller] Because I think the message that it sends 626 00:39:51,556 --> 00:39:53,850 is more than just killing one person. 627 00:39:53,850 --> 00:39:55,351 It sends a message of fear. 628 00:39:55,351 --> 00:39:57,061 [Bheki Cele] No. You can't accept that. 629 00:39:57,061 --> 00:40:00,690 The efforts, let me admit, not adequate. 630 00:40:00,690 --> 00:40:02,233 It's not enough. 631 00:40:02,233 --> 00:40:05,862 Yes, we have a problem. But we are fighting it. 632 00:40:08,531 --> 00:40:10,158 [Mariana Van Zeller] Ultimately though, fighting 633 00:40:10,158 --> 00:40:13,369 this black market is more difficult than most. 634 00:40:14,912 --> 00:40:19,417 There's no product to bust, no supply chain to track, 635 00:40:19,918 --> 00:40:24,047 just a simple agreement between a corrupt client and a willing 636 00:40:24,047 --> 00:40:28,384 contractor desperate enough to be selling the unthinkable. 637 00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:33,139 Johanna, do you think that the people that did this, 638 00:40:33,139 --> 00:40:35,850 do you think they're aware of what they did? 639 00:40:35,850 --> 00:40:37,143 Or the suffering? 640 00:40:37,143 --> 00:40:38,478 [Johanna Phenya] No. They don't care. 641 00:40:38,478 --> 00:40:42,940 They don't care. They are just hitmen. 642 00:40:42,940 --> 00:40:44,942 They are just, they are working. 643 00:40:44,942 --> 00:40:47,946 And for them, it's to make money. 644 00:41:02,877 --> 00:41:06,714 [gunshots] 645 00:41:06,714 --> 00:41:08,633 [Mariana Van Zeller] I sense that the only way Jojo and 646 00:41:08,633 --> 00:41:11,761 some of the other hitmen I've met can justify the savagery 647 00:41:11,761 --> 00:41:14,972 of their work is to convince themselves that they have 648 00:41:14,972 --> 00:41:16,724 no other choice. 649 00:41:16,724 --> 00:41:18,017 That there's no going back. 650 00:41:35,410 --> 00:41:37,996 [Mariana Van Zeller] In time, killing becomes the only thing 651 00:41:37,996 --> 00:41:39,539 they know. 652 00:41:39,539 --> 00:41:43,668 Whether that's in South Africa, Mexico, or Los Angeles. 653 00:41:44,127 --> 00:41:46,254 Would you want to get out of this if there was another way 654 00:41:46,254 --> 00:41:47,630 of making as much money? 655 00:41:49,340 --> 00:41:50,550 [Mariana Van Zeller] Why not? 656 00:41:53,261 --> 00:41:54,512 [Mariana Van Zeller] So you're not just saying this because 657 00:41:54,512 --> 00:41:56,014 we've got cameras, you actually feel this way? 658 00:42:08,276 --> 00:42:13,448 [♪ dramatic eerie music] 659 00:42:14,657 --> 00:42:16,492 [Mariana Van Zeller] In South Africa, hitmen perform 660 00:42:16,492 --> 00:42:19,912 a traditional ritual, 661 00:42:19,912 --> 00:42:21,956 bathing in blood and bile, 662 00:42:21,956 --> 00:42:24,584 to protect themselves from the spirits 663 00:42:24,584 --> 00:42:26,836 of the people they've murdered. 664 00:42:49,150 --> 00:42:51,235 [Mariana Van Zeller] I can't imagine choosing a life like 665 00:42:51,235 --> 00:42:53,237 the one Jojo has chosen. 666 00:42:53,237 --> 00:42:54,864 [gunshot] 667 00:42:54,864 --> 00:42:58,576 Assassins wield the power of life and death. 668 00:42:58,576 --> 00:43:00,536 But they are also vulnerable, 669 00:43:00,536 --> 00:43:04,082 expendable and infinitely replaceable. 670 00:43:04,832 --> 00:43:07,460 They are part of a culture of killing that grows in places 671 00:43:07,460 --> 00:43:10,505 where corruption and greed rule. 672 00:43:10,505 --> 00:43:14,759 Places that have no respect for the rule of law. 673 00:43:41,953 --> 00:43:44,163 [Mariana Van Zeller] It's a vicious cycle. 674 00:43:44,163 --> 00:43:48,459 When assassins kill, they do more than silence a person. 675 00:43:48,459 --> 00:43:50,837 They silence the truth, 676 00:43:50,837 --> 00:43:52,839 instill fear, 677 00:43:52,839 --> 00:43:56,467 embolden the corrupt and powerful, 678 00:43:57,468 --> 00:44:01,931 and leave the poor with fewer and fewer choices. 679 00:44:02,390 --> 00:44:03,766 Captioned by Cotter Media Group.