Trust issues between Cape Town cops led to officers from the Anti-Gang Unit driving all the way to Gauteng to secure evidence in the grenade attack on the home of slain detective Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear.
The shocking claim was made as senior officers took the stand at the Western Cape High Court in the trial against alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack and others.
Former AGU boss Major-General Andre Lincoln returned to court yesterday to testify against Modack’s co-accused Amaal Jantjies, who has challenged the admissibility of cellphone evidence in the underworld trial.
Jantjies, who was busted after a gang member was found outside Kinnear’s Bishop Lavis home in possession of a grenade, faces a vrag charges along with her boyfriend Janick Adonis.
According to the state’s case, the couple started working with the AGU in 2019 to provide information about firearms. In return, they wanted cops to assist them in securing bail for Adonis, who was being held at Malmesbury prison.
Lincoln told the court that on 14 November 2019, he sought Adonis’ help to obtain information about the murder of Colonel Andre Kay, who was gunned down outside his home in Bishop Lavis.
He explained Adonis’ claims were so outrageous, cops knew not to believe him, and Jantjies showed him that she had personal details of Kinnear including his home address on her cellphone.
Lincoln said the couple then tried to convince cops that they had information about Modack and this is why the cellphones are so important to the case.
After her arrest, Lincoln said he spoke to Adonis who threatened to stop working with the AGU.
Lincoln handed the phones to Captain John van Staden the next day.
Van Staden testified that after viewing the information on the cellphones, he knew it had vital evidence about the grenade attack. He said he did not trust officers at the Western Cape, so instead he drove all the way to Johannesburg to book the cellphones in with Provincial police.
“At that time there were all the issues with the Rogue Unit here [in the Western Cape],“ he said.