A self-confessed gang hitman has taken the stand at the Western Cape High Court to piemp his former friends in the murder trial against Nafiz Modack.
After weeks of delays, the state has finally begun introducing evidence, and called their first witness, who has already admitted to murdering Nicolaas Heerschap, 74, the father of a Hawks detective, allegedly at the instructions of the Terrible Westsiders (TWS) gang in Woodstock.
The hitman, who can only be named as “Mr A”, smiled in the dock as he turned on his former brasse and openly accused Moegamat Toufeek Brown, Riyaat Gesant, Fagmeed Kelly and Mario Pietersen as being the dik dinge of the gang.
Modack and his 14 co-accused face over 100 charges, including the murder of Anti-Gang Unit commander Charl Kinnear, corruption and racketeering charges.
According to the state’s case, Mr A shot and killed the older Heerschap in a botched hit on his son outside their home in Melkbosstrand in 2019.
At the time, the Hawks revealed that former Warrant Officer Nico Heerschap had left home early that day to testify at the Cape Town Regional Court against the owner of a VIP protection services company.
The security company, which has since ceased to operate, had issues with firearms which were seized by the Hawks due to a lack of documents.
It is believed that his elderly father was gunned down in a case of mistaken identity. Photographs of the oupa’s Toyota Land Cruiser show blood dripping from the driver’s door.
Mr A, who is already serving 25 years in jail after pleading guilty to this murder, explained how he knew each of the four accused.
Originally from Khayelitsha, he said he grew up at Buckley’s House in Woodstock where his mother was a domestic worker. After she left her job, he returned to Woodstock as he enjoyed being around the “stoute kinders” and became acquainted with Kelly.
He brazenly told Judge Robert Henney about all his sentences for petty crimes ranging from drugs and robbery to house break-ins. In 2012. he became a member of the TWS and spent the next five years in and out of prison.
“They even sentenced me for pliers, saying it was house breaking implements but it was just pliers,” he said to chuckles in the courtroom.
The state witness outed Brown as the leader of the TWS gang and claimed while operating as a drug mert in 2019, he approached Brown for help.
He said after flushing his drugs during a cop raid, he owed money and Brown helped him pay R500.
On 15 June 2019, he said Gesant, Kelly and Pietersen along with three other skollies approached him saying they “needed his krag”. It is believed that this is when the conspiracy to murder Heerschap began.
The trial continues.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za