[imagesource: Interpol]

Cape Town’s so-called underworld figures have become household names over the past few years.

The likes of Nafiz Modack, Mark Lifman, and Jerome ‘Donkie’ Booysen regularly feature in news reports related to the city’s murky underworld.

Much of the reporting is linked to the 2017 murder of Brian Wainstein (above), dubbed the ‘Steroid King’.

It’s taken years to reach this point but we finally have a date for the murder trial to resume, with Lifman and Booysen set to take the stand.

The Daily Maverick’s Vincent Cruywagen, who has excellent insight into these shady affairs, reckons the trial “is set to shine a light on the dark web of Cape Town’s underworld [and the] bosses’ reign of terror”:

Through an indictment and summary of facts, the State will detail an alleged extortion ring that has caused mayhem in restaurants, nightclubs and bars and show how underworld figures operated with impunity.

A trial date has been set for 6 February 2023 and on Monday, 14 March 2022, the matter is back in the Western Cape High Court to finalise the legal representatives for the accused, of which there are 17.

Wainstein was murdered in his Constantia home in front of his wife and young child. Prosecutors believe Lifman financed the hit, which was carried out by Fabian Cupido and other members of the 27s gang.

One of the men accused of orchestrating the hit alongside Lifman and Booysen, alleged 27s boss William “Red” Stevens, was murdered in a hail of bullets in front of his home last February.

A closer look at the indictment against Booysen and Lifman reveals striking similarities to another case – the murder charges levelled against alleged crime boss Nafiz Modack.

Image: Jaco Marais

The trio all face charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, being part of a criminal gang, operating a money-laundering enterprise, racketeering and corruption,

Modack will face murder charges for the killing of Anti-Gang Unit detective Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear, although a date has yet to be set.

He is due back in court on April 19. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the matter was postponed until then “for further investigation”.

Lifman also has his hands full battling SARS, filing an affidavit last month in an attempt to get the Cape Town High Court to prevent the tax collector from liquidating his property business.

Cruywagen reckons that if the trio is found guilty across the two trials, which would likely mean life sentences, it “could break the underworld stranglehold over Cape Town’s hospitality sector”.

Those businesses held to ransom along Long Street and other areas of the CBD would breathe a big sigh of relief.

[source:dailymaverick]