[imagesource:  Esa Alexander]

Ernie “Lastig” Solomon was gunned down in a hail of bullets in Boksburg last Friday, after two men opened fire on his BMW.

According to police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubele, the car carrying Solomon was cut off and bumped by a white Ford Ranger, before the gunmen jumped out and started shooting.

The assailants then abandoned the Ford Ranger and escaped in a getaway car “of an unknown description”.

None of the BMW’s other three occupants was killed, although they were all injured, including a five-year-old child.

Solomon, a former 28s gang boss, has been linked with the Terrible Josters gang in recent times, and insiders say a target has been on his back for a number of years.

He was the target of a failed hit in Hawston, a fishing town just outside of Hermanus, six months ago.

The Daily Maverick reports:

Sources said his murder was inevitable as his name had for months been surfacing in matters relating to dubious activities…

“It was bound to end this way,” a source said, referring to Solomon’s murder.

Another said several gang members still referred to him as “the beginning of the number and the end of the number” (referring to the numbers gangs) and “Number One”.

At this time, it remains unclear exactly who was behind Solomon’s murder.

The former 28s boss had attempted to reinvent himself as a peacemaker between various warring factions in recent times, but many saw through that, saying he remained a gangster until the very end.

Speaking with CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit, journalist Henriette Geldenhuys mapped out the illicit enterprises under Solomon’s watch:

Ernie Lastig was the most prominent abalone smuggler in South Africa for a very long time. For decades he has been in control of dealing in abalone with his connections with the Chinese mafia…

Ernie was very ‘rough and tough’ in the 90s when I first met him, with gold chains and gold teeth. In hi later life, he created a persona that kind of separates him of gangsterism…

I always say that the politicians don’t rule South Africa, it’s the 28s that rule South Africa. They are involved in so much crime across the country.

Don’t worry, we have crooks in the corridors of our ruling party, too, and some of their crimes would make even hardened gangsters blush.

The full interview with Geldenhuys is very interesting, shedding light on one of the country’s most powerful bosses, and the behind-the-scenes power tussles that eventually led to his downfall:

[sources:dailymaverick&capetalk]