Cape Town extortion case postponed after cop falls ill

Five men accused of extortion in the Cape Town night club industry face another five days behind bars before their lengthy bail hearing will resume.

The bail application of Nafiz Modack‚ Colin Booysen‚ Ashley Fields‚ Jacques Cronje and Carl Lakay was due to resume on Thursday but state prosecutor Adiel Jansen asked for a postponement because the investigating officer in the case‚ Colonel Charl Kinnear‚ is ill.

The hearing — a likely prelude to South Africa's biggest organised crime trial — will now resume on Tuesday.

Lawyers representing the five were furious about being searched by private security as they entered Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Expletives were uttered as were searched before their bail hearing could resume. The attorneys said they believed the searches were a police attempt to intimidate them.

One advocate said that he had to hand in his multi-tool‚ adding that it was ridiculous for police to use private security to do their jobs.

Journalists covering the bail hearing were also searched‚ as well as being prevented from taking their usual seats and ordered to turn off their cellphones.

The emergence of a photograph of President Jacob Zuma’s son with suspected underworld boss Modack has added extra spice to the hearing. The photograph of Duduzane Zuma and Nafiz Modack was taken at a Cape Town hotel in October‚ News24 reported on Wednesday. It shows the two men sitting at a table and smiling.

The five accused were arrested on an extortion charge on December 15 and the bail hearing is the prelude to what is expected to become South Africa's biggest organised crime trial.

Kinnear has testified that Modack’s gang has connections to senior politicians‚ including members of the Zuma family. He has also named at least four high-ranking police officers who he alleged to be under Modack’s “influence”.

The state is trying to prevent the men from getting bail because it fears they will interfere with witnesses and are a “threat to society”.