LegalWise (legalwise.co.za) in South Africa, covered by the threat actor thegentlemen, reported a ransomware claim associated with its legal-expenses insurance services for members across multiple provinces and neighboring countries. #SouthAfrica
Incident Details
- Victim: LegalWise
- Sector: Professional Services
- Country: ZA
- Actor: thegentlemen
- Source:
- Discovered: 2026-09-30T03:40:46.742073+00:00
- Published: 2026-09-29T14:34:37+00:00
Information
- LegalWise, founded in 1984 and based in Johannesburg, is South Africa’s leading legal-expenses insurance provider.
- The company serves more than 350,000 members and covers about 1.1 million people nationwide.
- For a monthly fee starting at around R151, members receive 24/7 legal advice, court-cost coverage up to R405,000 per case, and access to a network of more than 220 partner law firms.
- Its services help ordinary people afford legal support for labour, criminal, family, and municipal disputes.
- LegalWise has 400 to 800 staff, offices in all nine provinces plus Botswana and Namibia, and handles more than 125,000 consultations and about 70,000 new cases each year.
- The company operates within the LEGA insurance group, alongside insurer LEZA, with gross premiums of roughly R800 to R850 million per year.
- In 2023, black-owned investment firm Sithega acquired 62% of the group, while Hollard retained 38%.
- The company is led by CEO Siva Gengan.
Disclaimer: This post is based on public claims made by the ransomware group "thegentlemen". I cannot confirm the accuracy of the information. However, I would be happy to share any official statement from the affected organization to provide clarification.