Alleged 27s gang boss William “Red” Stevens was sitting on a chair outside his home in Scottsville, Kraaifontein, when he was gunned down on Tuesday evening.
Shortly after his death, gunfire rang out in other parts of the area as members of the 27s and 28s gangs were said to engage in a gang war, with rumours rife that the hit may have been ordered by the 28s.
“The circumstances surrounding the death of a 56-year-old man are being investigated after he was shot and killed at his residence in Rembrandt Street, Kraaifontein, this evening at around 6.35pm. Three unknown suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested,” said Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut.
An eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, said at first he thought the gunshots were fireworks.
“I asked the person in front of me if I was hearing gunshots and they said, yes, we were. All of a sudden people started screaming and saying someone is lying on the floor and then we heard tyres screeching as a car drove off. It was the getaway car of the shooters.
“When I got onto the scene, I saw William Stevens, aka Red, was lying on his stomach on the curb opposite his house with his face in the grass, wearing a white T-shirt and grey sweatpants and flip-flops, with three or four bullet wounds in his back,” he said.
“Suddenly, the scene was crowded. No-one knew what to do. Everyone is running around, some shouting and crying at the same time. Someone is constantly shouting: ‘Call the ambulance!’ Others wanted Red to be picked up and sped off to the hospital,” said the witness.
“The whole feeling on the scene was a feeling of shock and surprise because it’s very seldom that something so barbaric happens on the upper end of Scottsville,” he said.
Bystanders said there were three shooters in a light blue Honda Jazz. They allegedly drove around the block twice before they stopped to speak with Stevens.
“They said his right-hand man was sitting next to him when suddenly the shooting started. His right-hand man was uninjured. The shooters escaped and their car was later found behind Scottsville Primary School, where they jumped into a different vehicle,” the witness said.
Stevens was arrested in December for the murder of “Steroid King” Brian Wainstein, with alleged underworld bosses Mark Lifman and Jerome “Donkie” Booysen. The trio also faced extortion charges.
During a visit to police stations in Cape Town on Wednesday, police minister Bheki Cele said it would have been safer for Stevens, whom he referred to as “a known gangster”, if he had been denied bail.
He said he wanted to call on the justice cluster to “close the loopholes”, including those that allowed criminals to run their activities from inside the correctional services department, and for prosecutors and the judiciary to consider bail applications more carefully.
All of a sudden people started screaming and saying that someone is lying on the floor, and then we heard tyres screeching as a car drove off. It was the getaway car of the shooters.
— Eye-witness
“You sit back and you wonder why this person got bail. If he was in custody he would have been safer. It gives those people who want to take the law into their own hands [the opportunity],” said Cele.
It is alleged Stevens was instrumental in the plot to murder Wainstein, who was said to be working with 28s-affiliated underworld figures before his murder in his luxury Constantia home in August 2017.
In June last year Fabian Cupido became the third person to be jailed for Wainstein’s murder after he entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the state. This saw him receive a 25-year prison sentence.
He implicated Kishor “Kammal” Naidoo, the owner of Goodhope Tyres in Mitchells Plain, who he said was a 27s gang member, as a co-conspirator in organising Wainstein’s murder.
Cupido said he attended a meeting on August 17 2017 at Goodhope Tyres with Naidoo, Chestlyn Adams and Sheldon Breet. Breet’s brother, Matthew, and Adams were also convicted of the murder after pleading guilty.
“At this meeting it was agreed between the parties to have Brian Wainstein (the deceased), a prominent figure in the Cape Town ‘underworld’, murdered,” read Cupido’s plea and sentencing agreement.
“It was decided that Chestlyn Adams would enter the house of the deceased and shoot the deceased, while the (Cupido) would serve as the driver of the vehicle transporting them to the home of the deceased,” it continued.
Lifman told Sunday Times Daily on Wednesday that he was “concerned” about Stevens' death.
“I didn’t have much knowledge of Red at all, other than the fact that I knew that his name was Red and that he was in the Kraaifontein area, so I cannot comment because I don’t know what he was involved with and who he was involved with.
“I wouldn’t say I’m afraid, but I would definitely say I’m concerned about the authorities and the stance that they’re taking to certain elements in the criminal underworld,” said Lifman.
“I’m hoping that soon there will be some results and that they will stop trying to create diversions, which is in the case of my matter. Maybe you can go and do some homework about my matter, because it’s very strange what I’ve been charged with,” he said.
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