Eight alleged 27s gang members said to be working for Mark Lifman and Jerome “Donkie” Booysen, all accused of the murder of international fugitive Brian Wainstein, will probably have to apply for legal aid because they can’t afford lawyers.
Anthony Christopher van der Watt, Ricardo Maarman, Typhyenne Jantjies, Bevan Cedrick Ezaus, Bradley De Bula, Kashief Hansloo, Rowendall Franklyn Stevens and Jason Maits represent the bottom rung of a criminal organisation which mirrors South African society in its socio-economic disparity.
They face charges of conspiracy and incitement to commit public violence and murder, intimidation, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, providing a firearm to a person not allowed to possess a firearm and attempted murder.
The counts relate to shooting incidents at Café Caprice in Cape Town’s Camp’s Bay and Coco Bar in one of Cape Town’s high streets.
The men are from the far-flung corners of the Cape Flats’ most decrepit, gang-, drug- and poverty-ridden suburbs, such as Mitchells Plain’s East Ridge, West Ridge and Rocklands, and Kraaifontein in the northern reaches of the Cape Town metropole.
It’s likely they never frequented these bars before the incidents as they would have been unable to afford to.
Their lawyers told the court that they would likely not represent their clients when the case is moved to the high court as they could not afford their services.
Their lawyers pleaded for R1,000 bail each, saying they could not afford anything more. They are unemployed, young, uneducated and some have criminal backgrounds and gang tattoos. In a tight economy, they are as good as unemployable.
Their lawyers told the court they would likely not represent their clients when the case is moved to the high court as they could not afford their services. Instead, they would probably opt for legal aid.
The court released them on R5,000 bail each. A few hours after the adjournment they had not been released, as their friends, associates and loved ones waited outside.
They would have to make their own way back to their homes more than 20km away and far removed from affluent Sea Point, where Lifman lives in luxury.
In contrast, their “bosses” — the men who allegedly order foot soldiers to execute their rivals, engage in public violence and intimidation — Lifman, Booysen and alleged 27s gang member William “Red” Stevens, were able to quickly raise the R100,000 bail amounts set during their December 22 court appearances.
On Tuesday, the bail amounts reflected the pay scales of those who have allegedly made crime their living and took up employment in the service of this “criminal empire”.
Lifman’s right-hand man and bouncer boss André Naudé, the owner of a mansion in affluent Loevenstein, in the foothills of Tygerberg, was granted R50,000 bail.
Next to him in the dock, debt collector Sam Farquharson, Jacobus Stevens and Egan Norman were granted bail of R10,000 each.
Sea Point police detective and former Anti-Gang Unit member Sgt Wayne Henderson was released on R5,000 bail, perhaps a reflection of a public servant’s salary.
Sea Point police detective and former Anti-Gang Unit member Sgt Wayne Henderson was released on R5,000 bail, perhaps a reflection of a public servant's salary.
The affluence at the top of an alleged criminal empire is perhaps best summarised by the SA Revenue Service’s (Sars) claim that Lifman owes the taxman R352m after a valuation of his assets. The amount was calculated without interest.
Lifman has claimed this was an example of SARS conducting a witch hunt against an honest businessman and has, since 2015, fought the taxman right up to the high court, which dismissed his leave to appeal a judgment against him with costs last year.
Then there is Fabian Cupido, who lost his job as a train driver in 2015 and allegedly turned to a life of crime, joining the 27s gang, a decision he says he took to provide for his family.
He was one of the first three people to be jailed for the August 18 2017 murder, in the leafy suburbs of Constantia, of “Steroid King” and international fugitive Wainstein after he entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the state. The 42-year-old was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role as a driver for the team of hitmen who killed Wainstein.
The Hawks allege that Lifman, Booysen and Stevens conspired to murder Wainstein in the midst of a battle for control over lucrative opportunities, including control of the doors of Cape Town’s nightclubs.
They clashed with a rival criminal grouping with the same goal in mind, controlled by alleged underworld boss Nafiz Modack and Booysen’s brother Colin Booysen.
They face a separate charge of murder after Wainstein was killed.
He had allegedly crossed a boundary — switching alliances — which in the underworld is punishable by death.
The state alleges that in the Sea Point suburb of Fresnaye on November 19 2017, Lifman conspired to murder his rivals, including Modack, Booysen, Ashley Fields, Carl Lakay, Emile Goodley and Dalton.
He faces another count, with Stevens and Naudé, of conspiring to murder the same group of individuals, this time at Cape Town International Airport on November 22.
Modack, Booysen, Fields, Lakay and Jacques Cronje were arrested a few weeks later, in December 2017, and charged with extortion. They were found not guilty.
The state alleges that the accused acted in common purpose to further the activities of the 27s and their separate counts, including conspiracy to commit public violence and intimidation, firearms-related charges and defeating the ends of justice, are brought together under the umbrella of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act 121 of 1998.
The accused are expected back at court on May 12.
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