Media interviews, contact Judith February, Executive Officer, Freedom Under Law 083 453 9817

Freedom Under Law (FUL) is deeply troubled by reports of the killing of attorney Chinette Gallichan. According to news reports, Ms Gallichan was shot in central Johannesburg in broad daylight. It appears that she was on her way to represent the mining company Sibanye-Stillwater at the CCMA. The killing has been described as having the hallmarks of a targeted hit.

The circumstances of Ms Gallichan’s murder therefore raise deeply concerning questions about the potential role of organised crime in this fatality. FUL has raised its concern about previous killings of several lawyers, investigators, and whistleblowers in what have appeared to be deliberate and concerted attempts to prevent criminal behaviour from being exposed. The killing of attorney Bouwer van Niekerk in September 2025 was a recent example of this trend.  

It is not yet clear whether the killing of Ms Gallichan is another example of this worrying trend, but whatever the underlying reason, her death represents an attack on the rule of law and therefore on our constitutional democracy. A society based on the rule of law requires lawyers to be able to represent clients fearlessly, without fear that fulfilling their basic professional duties could put their lives at risk. If lawyers cannot do so, the entire legal system, and therefore our entire system of government, would be under serious threat. We cannot allow the threat of violence to be normalised, or to be used to intimidate legal practitioners and to manipulate the legal system.   

We again call on law enforcement agencies to act quickly and decisively to bring all those responsible for this killing to justice.

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