[imagesource: Esa Alexander]

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

Sources say his murder was inevitable, with gunmen in a Ford Ranger cutting off his vehicle before unleashing a volley of bullets.

Shots were even fired through the roof, in case the rest of the vehicle had been bulletproofed.

Prior to his death, and probably knowing that the walls were closing in around him, Solomon recorded a video message. He finished by saying “be careful, you are going to kill your family and your own community and after that your own brothers are going to kill you”.

At the time of the shooting, there were three other occupants in the car with Solomon, all of whom were wounded, including his five-year-old granddaughter.

Now one of the other occupants, a man, has died in hospital, meaning the case is now a double murder. According to the Daily Maverick, “sources said the incident appeared to be planned with precision and that an AK-47 assault rifle may have been used in the ambush”.

Image: Daily Maverick

The same report goes on to say that Solomon’s murder could mean that two infamous hits – the 2013 murder of Sexy Boys gangster and suspected hitman Leon “Leontjie” David and the 2011 murder of underworld figure and state operative Cyril Beeka – may never be truly be solved:

Solomon was pointed to as being the mastermind behind Davids’ murder in retaliation for Beeka’s killing.

The suspected and claimed links connecting these three assassinations – spanning nearly a decade – create a triangle of fatal crimes, two of which have for years been open-ended and the latest still under intense investigation…

Details about Solomon’s claimed involvement in the killing of Davids are contained in a judgment against his nephew, Horatio “Voudie” Solomon, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Western Cape High Court in October.

During Horatio’s trial, various claims were made about his uncle’s involvement in the judgment itself, but Ernie was never called on as a witness.

Finally, as proof of the power Ernie wielded and the fear he instilled, consider this:

The judgment also included details about how CF [a Terrible Josters member who turned state witness] believed the Terrible Josters gang got its name: “The ‘Josters’, on his understanding, came from Johannesburg in the 1990s.

“The name ‘Terrible’ was added because the ultimate leader of the gang was… Ernest Solomon… whose nickname was ‘Lastig’.”

The word “Lastig” can be translated as “terrible”.

Insiders are now fearful that power struggles, both within the Terrible Josters themselves and between rival gangs, could lead to increased violence.

[source:dailymaverick]