Executive Director, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime · Geneva and Cape Town
Testified · expert witness
The executive director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, the Geneva-based research network that compiles the global organised crime index, and a long-standing analyst of South African criminal markets. He gave expert evidence to the Madlanga Commission on 2 September 2026 (Day 172), the last public sitting before the commission's September recess, and he is the first witness the archive has recorded who was not there to answer for anything or to accuse anyone. His purpose was measurement. Per EWN and SABC News, he told the panel that 'South Africa is in the top 5% of all countries in the world in respect of criminal markets and actors as measured by the index', placing the country alongside Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Ecuador, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Lebanon, Turkey and Kenya, and seventh out of the 193 countries surveyed. He testified that South Africa's homicide rate exceeds those of Colombia and Mexico and now resembles Ecuador's, that Gqeberha ranks third globally among cities affected by territorial gang violence with Cape Town also severely affected, and that the country's criminal markets span drug trafficking, extortion, financial crime, illicit trade and cybercrime. He tied the ranking to state capture and to the infiltration of state institutions by criminal networks, which is this commission's own mandate expressed as comparative research, and said repeated state interventions have failed to reach the causes of the violence. He then turned to remedies, taking the panel through Italy's restructuring of its anti-mafia prosecution system and identifying the absence of legislation dealing with the unexplained wealth of public officials as a gap in South African law. His evidence is expert opinion placed before a commission of inquiry. It is not a finding, and it makes no allegation against any individual.
Mark ShawGI-TOCGlobal Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crimeorganised crime indexexpert witnessMadlanga Commission
This profile summarises testimony and evidence given on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as presented at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person.
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Their role
What the record says
South Africa ranks seventh of 193 countries for organised crime
Per EWN and SABC News, Shaw testified on Day 172 that South Africa sits in the top 5% of all countries measured on the global organised crime index maintained by his organisation, and seventh out of 193 countries surveyed. He grouped it with Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Ecuador, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Lebanon, Turkey and Kenya. The measure covers both criminal markets and criminal actors, which is why a country with strong formal institutions can still rank near the top. This is research evidence about the country, not an allegation about a person.
A homicide rate above Colombia's and Mexico's, and a city ranked third in the world for gang violence
Shaw's evidence was that South Africa's homicide rate exceeds those of Colombia and Mexico and more closely resembles Ecuador's, and that Gqeberha ranks third globally among cities affected by territorial gang violence, with Cape Town also severely affected. He described long-standing, deeply entrenched gangs and criminal networks that have taken root over decades, falling hardest on marginalised communities, and said that 'repeated state interventions have failed to address the root causes driving the violence'. Comparative research, not a finding.
Linked the ranking to state capture and criminal infiltration of institutions
Per SABC News, Shaw connected South Africa's standing on the index to state capture and to the infiltration of state institutions by criminal networks, and set out the criminal markets involved: drug trafficking, financial crime, extortion, illicit trade and cybercrime. That is the commission's own terms of reference restated as an international measurement, and it is the reason his evidence was led at all: it gives the panel a frame in which the individual strands it has heard across 172 days are symptoms of one measurable condition rather than separate scandals.
Recommended an anti-mafia prosecution architecture and unexplained wealth legislation
Per EWN, Shaw took the commission through interventions used elsewhere, developing Italy's restructuring of its anti-mafia prosecutorial system as the leading example - a specialised, centrally coordinated prosecution architecture built because ordinary prosecution services could not withstand an organised adversary. He also identified a legislative gap in South Africa on the unexplained wealth of public officials. The record of this commission illustrates the gap: it has repeatedly reached officers whose banking does not match their salaries, most recently the 65 deposits totalling R1.7 million put to Lieutenant-Colonel Deenadayalan Govender on Day 170, and there is no standing statutory mechanism compelling an explanation. These are recommendations, not findings.
“South Africa is in the top 5% of all countries in the world in respect of criminal markets and actors as measured by the index.”
Dr Mark Shaw, executive director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, giving expert evidence to the Madlanga Commission (Day 172, 2 September 2026), per EWN. Expert opinion evidence on comparative measurement, not a finding about any person.