Cape Town - The Western Cape High Court will soon set the stage for two of the country’s highest profile criminal trials as alleged rival kingpins Nafiz Modack, Mark Lifman and Jerome “Donkie” Booysen appear simultaneously.
Years after their arrests, court documents have lifted the veil on the murky Cape Town underworld which saw clashes between the 27s gang and Modack for control over nightclubs in the Mother city.
Modack, already on trial for the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear, will return for the continuation of his trial on April 16, while Lifman and Booysen will face charges relating to the murder of steroid dealer, Brian Wainstein on April 22.
Court documents for both trials have revealed shocking murder plots to assassinate kingpins on either side amid a breakdown in the groupings.
Modack and his group face over 100 charges linked to the murders of Kinnear, Nicholaas Heerschap and others.
According to the State’s case, Modack allegedly hired Zane Killian to ping the cellphones of several individuals, including Booysen and Lifman.
He is also accused of aligning himself with the Junky Funky Kids and Terrible West Siders gangs to carry out hits on individuals, including Andre Naude, a close associate of Lifman.
According to the indictment, the rivalries date back to 2016 when
Lifman, Donkie, Colin Booysen and Andre Naude established a “brotherhood” which oversaw all the bouncers at clubs.
It states that in May 2016 a violent altercation broke out between Colin and another person at Coco Bar and Colin complained that his own brother had brought 27s gang members, including alleged boss William “Red” Stevens, which was allegedly the cause of the problems.
The split was allegedly negotiated by Naude with Colin leaving the brotherhood and allegedly joining Modack. The documents state that the duo started taking over clubs from Lifman and Donkie, leading to a bitter rivalry which would result in years of attempted murder plots.
Red, who was assassinated before he could go on trial, allegedly volunteered gang members to take the clubs back by force and provided taxis and firearms to escort vehicles into the city on April 8, 2017.
The gang allegedly blocked streets as they visited Cubana, Coco Bar, Club 31, Mavericks and the Grand Café where they allegedly intimidated clients and disrupted business on the night.
The documents state that in the same year Lifman was in conflict with Wainstein over property and investments.
In July 2017 there was a failed attempt to murder alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield, an alleged associate of Wainstein.
The State alleges Wainstein believed Lifman was behind the botched hit and planned to murder one of his bodyguards in retaliation.
The indictment states that a plot to murder Wainstein was later hatched between Lifman and the 27s gang.
“Accused 1 [Lifman] indicated that he was not willing to pay more than R250 000 as he had paid R500 000 for the hit on Stanfield and the hit was unsuccessful.”
Wainstein was later shot and killed in his Constantia home.
In both trials the State alleges that police officers were allegedly corrupted to aid gang activities in Cape Town.
In the Modack matter, former AGU officer Ashley Tabisher is accused of agreeing to provide information to his affiliates on plans by the elite police unit to raid his home.
In the Lifman matter, Sergeant Wayne Henderson is accused of trying to dispose of evidence linking the notorious Breet Brothers to their role in the alleged hits.
According to the court documents, Henderson, who formerly worked at the Anti-Gang Unit under Kinnear’s command, agreed to meet one of the brothers to dispose of evidence in exchange for R100 000.