Nafiz Modack wants Legal Aid to pay for lawyer of his choice

Alleged underworld boss Nafiz Modack appeared in the Cape Town magistrate's court on Thursday where the court was made aware of his unusual request regarding his legal representation in his trial for the murder of detective Charl Kinnear.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazlila said Modack qualified for his application to receive Legal Aid representation but instead of him using the lawyer that would be appointed by the body, he requested that Legal Aid South Africa (LASA) allow him to be presented by his own lawyers.

Cape Town Lasa head Russel Cloete told the court that they do not allow suspects to choose their own legal representation as there would be problems if they allowed everyone to do so.

He Lasa had a database from which they chose legal representatives and Modack’s were not registered on the database. 

The lawyers Modack wants are previous privately appointed  Dirk Uys and Schalk van der Merwe.

Modack appealed the decision made by the Cape Town office.

While Modack awaits a decision on his appeal, he remains behind bars. Should they deny his appeal, he can appeal at Lasa's provincial and national offices. 

His application for representation on the matter of being charged for racketeering, fraud, money laundering, uttering and contravention of the VAT Act was subsequently denied. 

Former rugby player and his co-accused in Kinnear's murder, Zane Kilian, has also now requested legal representation from Lasa despite telling the court he would represent himself.

Cloete told the court there were difficulties securing representation for him due to the nature of the case, as some lawyers were not available and others “were not inclined to accept the case.”

He promised to facilitate the appeal as quick as possible but indicated that the provincial and national appeal processes were out of his hands and may take time.

“The state noted what was put before court and expressed its unhappiness as it believed that the latest developments were an attempt to delay the matter,” said Ntabazlila.

The matter was postponed to January 29. 

Kinnear investigated gang-related crimes and alleged corruption at the central firearms registry. He was gunned down in September 2020 outside his home in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town.