The assassination of a dik ding skollie of the 27s gang has plunged a high-profile trial involving alleged underworld kingpin Mark Lifman and alleged gang boss Jerome “Donkie” Booysen into chaos.
This was revealed at the Western Cape High Court on Friday as a large group accused of various crimes returned to court for the first time since the murder of Anthony Ameer van der Watt on the M5 highway.
Van der Watt is the third person who had been killed since the high-profile arrests, which also saw an officer from the anti-gang unit – sergeant Wayne Henderson – facing charges of allegedly colluding with hitmen and taking a bribe.
Van der Watt was shot and killed earlier this month when gunmen opened fire on his black Mercedes Benz as they returned from Pollsmoor Prison.
While one henchman died, his driver was unscathed and was spotted in the public gallery at court on Friday, along with a swathe of bodyguards and skurke.
Lifman and Donkie, with slain 27s gang boss William “Red” Stevens, were busted by the Hawks in December 2020 for the murder of Brian “Steroid King” Wainstein.
The trio were released on R100 000 bail each.
Red was later shot and killed outside his Kraaifontein home.
The indictment revealed a series of underworld plots to kill Modack as well as Donkie’s brother Colin, in a bitter rivalry over night-club security.
During the pre-trial proceedings, the State advocate told the court that due to Van der Watt’s death several charges will be removed from the indictment, although this was not clarified.
Lifman’s lawyer said he was ready to make certain admissions but they were waiting on the State to complete the transcriptions of 11 phonecalls.
The matter was postponed to February 3 for further pre-trial hearings.