It was a bleak Labarang for alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, on Friday after he was slapped with a murder charge for slain top cop Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear.
Modack, along with former rugby player Zane Kilian, appeared at the Blue Downs Regional Court where they were informed they were now being accused of pinging Kinnear’s phone to track him, and murdering him.
Outside court, Modack’s supporters were again out in full force.
While the Hawks have not yet arrested the hitman who was captured on CCTV footage, Kilian’s family says they have employed private investigators to find the shooter.
The Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) commander was assassinated outside his Bishop Lavis home on 18 September 2020.
In court, Modack briefly chatted to a relative, Ayesha Modack, with permission from his legal counsel.
Kinnear’s widow, Nicolette and her two sons were also present in court.
Modack and Kilian appeared alongside Jacques Cronjé, car salesman Ricardo Morgan and AGU Sergeant Ashley Tabisher.
The charge sheet consisting of 52 pages and over 60 charges were consolidated for their bail hearing today.
The accused claim they are being framed for Kinnear’s murder.
While the Hawks have yet to confirm if Modack is the man they identified as “Mr X” in their affidavits, Kilian’s father, Hein, 69, claims this was all “bullsh!t”.
According to the Hawks, Kilian confessed that Mr X gave the order to ping Kinnear’s phone.
But Hein Kilian says: “Zane never identified a Mr X, that is something the Hawks said for sensationalism. It’s the biggest load of bullsh!t I ever heard.
“I have employed private investigators to go to Cape Town and find the shooter because the police are useless. Once they find him, he can say who sent him to shoot Kinnear.”
Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Philani Nkwalase says: “At this stage we cannot comment further into how those accused of the murder are linked as the matter is before court. Regarding the shooter, we are following up on all leads.”
He added that they were not aware of the PI’s working for the Kilians.
According to the charge sheet, the five men, along with Amaal Jantjies and her boyfriend, Jannick Adonis, are all charged with being part of the “Nafiz Modack Enterprise” and allegedly have links to the Junky Funky Kidz gang.
The state alleges that the group was involved in extortion, are behind the attempted grenade attack on Kinnear’s home, the attempted hit on attorney William Booth and corrupting a member of the AGU.
The state has opposed bail for all, but Morgan was released on R50 000 bail on Friday.
He said he was not involved in a conspiracy to kill Kinnear and added that conditions were bad inside the mang, putting him at risk for Covid-19.
Tabisher, who is a member of AGU, stunned the court when he claimed he was being set up by his own colleagues to take the fall for senior officers.
Tabisher is being accused of taking a R10 000 bribe and cellphone worth R3500 to provide Modack with information alerting him to planned raids on his homes.
In his affidavit, read out by defence attorney Bruce Hendricks, he said: “The state was aware of everything that was going on and that certain members of the Anti-Gang Unit will be able to confirm his version.
“Among others it is Major-General [Andre] Lincoln, Captain Stone, [Sergeant] Marlon Adams, Warrant Officer Rubain, Captain [Althea] Japhta, Sergeant [Leticia] van der Horst, including the late Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear and Mr Johnson of Popcru.
“The accused wants me to place on record that he is placed there to take the fall for other people’s unlawful doings and he is not willing to do that.
“He wants his bail application to be heard as a matter of urgency.”
However, the magistrate ruled that all the accused would remain in custody and return to court today for their bail applications.