The criminal justice system is failing women
22 September 2026
For immediate release
MISA is outraged that Zimbabwean businessman Lawrence Mudzinganyama was released on a mere warning despite being filmed threatening to kill women in a Sandton restaurant's bathroom.
Mudzinganyama was released after reporting to the South African Police Service pending an investigation after a social media outrage erupted on Saturday. He is seen on the video saying he did not care that he was being recorded, because he believed he would murder the ladies and get away with it.
Every Government institution and business in the private industry have since distances itself from him. Moriel Infrastructure Group removed him as Executive Chairman, Steyn City terminated his lease of a property in the exclusive residential estate, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy asked the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) to investigate his contracts and Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson ordered a probe into irregular gradings allegedly awarded to him.
Every arm of the state moved, except the part that matters most for the safety of women. He was allowed to walk out of the police station and is only expected to appear at the Randburg Magistrates Court on 1 October.
Contrast this with Stuart Scharnick, arrested on the spot on 20 August for intimidating a journalist at the Madlanga Commission and held in custody.
A man who intimidated a journalist was detained immediately. A man who threatened to shoot women, and boasted of his impunity, was released the same day. The only difference is that his victims were women.
"Women in this country are dying with protection orders in their handbags. They do everything the law allows to protect themselves and they are pursued and killed anyway. When a man declares on camera that he will murder women and is released the same day, the system is not managing a risk, it is telling every woman she is on her own," says Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer: Operations.
The decision to release him has confirmed what women have said for years. When they report abuse, they are not taken seriously. As a foreign national he is a clear flight risk and should never have walked. #MISA holds the entire criminal justice system responsible and we say plainly that its handling of this case is a disgrace.
Issued on behalf of #MISA by Sonja Carstens, Manager of MISA's Media & Communication Department.