Accused in Wynberg court hit alleged to be the 'brains' behind the attack

Shireen Matthews, 35, made a brief appearance in the Wynberg magistrate's court on Monday which heard she was the “brains” behind a brazen shooting incident at the court. 

Matthews, who was arrested on Saturday, faces charges for the murder of Dingalomoya Chintso, 49, a former taxi driver who operated in Vrygrond and was shot on April 10 inside the Wynberg regional court. Chintso was facing charges of murder and illegal possession of a firearm. 

The state alleges Matthews conspired with the Junky Funky Kidz (JFK) gang and recruited members to execute the victim. 

Dressed in black pants, socks with flip flops and a black hoodie, Matthews covered her face as photographers attempted to take photos of her. 

When the magistrate asked her what was wrong with her face, Matthews stated: “I’m fine ... There's a hundred people taking photos of me.”

The case was postponed to April 23 for bail information. 

There was tight security at the court, with several high-ranking police officers present, including Western Cape provincial acting commissioner Gen Bongani Maqashalala and provincial head of the serious and violent crimes unit Brig Leon Hanana. 

Maqashalala, briefing the media outside the court after Matthews' appearance, said  she was the alleged mastermind behind the premeditated murder. He said police officials had made a second arrest and that the suspect had been questioned on Monday. 

“We have identified more people with time we are going to effect more arrests and also to assist with the court we have increased numbers to ensure that the threat is neutralised,” said Maqashalala. 

“The investigation is continuing. We have identified four people, so we expect to make six arrests in total ... We have allowed our criminal intelligence to do the threat assessment, but due to the preliminary threat assessment we have decided to beef up security at this court. 

“We are going to look at other [courts] because we do not want anything of this nature, and we are going to have discussions with the department of justice and constitutional development because access control is their responsibility.” 

He added that they had also increased their deployment in Vrygrond and recovered several firearms. 

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