Willie Hofmeyr, head of the Asset Forfeiture Unit, is out to prove to criminals - and the public - that crime doesn't pay.
And just to show that Hofmeyr means business, at least 10 top criminals have been targeted for attention in 2001, he says.
The unit's image may not exactly fit that of a modern-day Robin Hood, but Hofmeyr says its prime focus is not to "grab" money for the government but rather to deprive criminals and compensate the victims.
"It's not just about getting crime bosses in prison. We want to strip them bare so that they have no money and assets left. We want people to see in a real way that crime doesn't pay."
Since its establishment in May 1999, the unit has recorded a success rate of 90 percent, seizing assets worth more than R200-million in 51 separate cases.
An estimated R135-million is likely to be returned to victims, depending on the orders given by the courts granting the forfeitures.
Of the 43 orders the unit has in force, forfeiture proceedings have started in 30 of them with assets amounting to R23-million. A total of R15,5-million of this will be handed to the state for crime prevention and R7,5-million to the victims.
Forfeitures have been completed in 14 cases, with an amount of R7-million involved. From this, R6,5-million will be paid to victims while the rest will be transferred to the state for crime prevention.
Money has already been paid out in three cases, amounting to R1,2-million, of which R1-million went to crime victims.
Hofmeyr says most of the seized assets were life assurance policies, followed closely by fixed properties such as buildings and land. About six luxury vehicles valued at R500 000 each have also been confiscated.
The case with the most assets that the unit has dealt with is that of a prominent Pretoria businessman, David Alexander.
His assets - mainly in the form of policies - amount to R95-million.
Alexander was running a business buying second-hand policies and then allegedly defrauded his clients. His assets were frozen and he is standing trial.
Another big case is that of The Ranch and its owner, Andrew Phillips.
The assets of this now-closed upmarket Sandton brothel are worth about R40-million. Part of The Ranch's case has proceeded to the forfeiture stage, where the unit plans to confiscate additional land and a building worth up to R7-million.
Says Hofmeyr: "One potent aspect of the law is that we can close down the physical structures used to commit the crime. We certainly have managed to get the message across that we're going after crime bosses.
"The information we're getting is that they're certainly worried about us and they're getting more sophisticated about hiding assets - they use family trusts and companies. All this means is that we'll just have to do a lot more work."
Hofmeyr tells of a recent case where the unit was granted a court order against Nolunvi Yanta and Thabo Peter, of Umtata in the Eastern Cape. The couple faced pension fraud charges. Yanta's brother, who had a clothing store, hid the stock before the unit arrived. The stock was eventually tracked down and confiscated.
Events took a bizarre turn when the unit found that a 78-year-old family attorney had persuaded the couple to pay him R300 000 in cash in exchange for hiding some of their property.
The lawyer also demanded R500 000 for his work. This angered the couple so much that they not only fired him but reported the matter to the unit.
The same lawyer was then shot by his assistant in a fit of rage after he wanted to sue the assistant for defamation. These weren't the only shots fired during this case - some of the witnesses were shot at by gunmen with AK-47 rifles.
Incidents such as these, and death threats against unit members, have forced Hofmeyr and his men to step up security.
Despite the threats, the unit is moving on and setting itself "ambitious targets".
The unit's short-term objective is to fight test cases in court and to engage some of the best legal brains to assist and develop prosecutors for the fight against criminals.
The focus will then shift from test cases to carrying out more and more asset forfeiture cases.