Jerome “Donkie” Booysen has accused the owner of PPA Security of being behind the assassination of underworld kingpin Mark Lifman, as two men affiliated with the security company appeared in the George Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Two days after the 57-year-old businessman from Fresnaye was gunned down in the parking lot at Garden Route Mall in George, his alleged killers, Johannes Hendrik Jacobs and Gert Johannes Bezuidenhout, have been charged with murder and remanded in custody.
Lifman died in a hail of bullets on Sunday while walking to his double-cab bakkie, and according to CCTV footage, a white VW Polo is seen speeding away from the scene.
The shooters were chased by cops and security companies, culminating in their capture near Uniondale.
CCTV footage of a nearby farm surfaced, showing them changing the licence plates on their vehicle.
A source says: "They shot him five times and they sped away. Initially, they had CY plates on [the car] and in the footage you can see them parking on a field and changing the plates to a CAA registration.
“This video shows them getting out putting away the gun and changing the plate to avoid being detected.“
According to sources, both men work for the Cape Town based firm PPA Security, with Jacobs being identified as the shooter while Bezuidenhout drove the getaway car.
The case was remanded to 13 November for a bail information hearing.
Speaking to the Daily Voice before their appearance, Jerome Booysen accused Alwyn Landman, the owner of PPA, of being behind the hit.
Donkie says: “Both of them work for PPA and that ‘Johnny’ [Jacobs] is the guy who came from Task Force and he is a f***ing good shooter.
“This was done by Alwyn because Johnny is his right hand man and doesn’t move a finger unless Alwyn says he must.
“That Alwyn is only where he is today because of Mark.
“He was nothing but a security guard at Shimmy Club and Mark is the one who gave him an opportunity as a bouncer and helped him work his way up in the security business.”
Landman did not respond to questions, and referred all questions to his Operations Manager Colin Adams.
Adams says: “The information provided to you by Mr Booysen is factually incorrect.
“Over the past approximately two years, Mr Jacobs has rendered ad hoc training services, predominantly for riot and crowd management to PPA as an independent contractor.
“It is our understanding that he renders such training services to other companies as well. Mr Jacobs is not currently contracted to PPA and has never been employed by PPA.”
He added that Bezuidenhout rendered security services as an independent contractor.
Adams says: “He is currently contracted to PPA but a decision has already been taken to terminate his contract with immediate effect. He was not on duty at the time of the alleged incident.”
Adams denies that PPA had any role in the murder of Lifman and says the deceased had no links to the company.
He adds: “Mr Lifman played no role at all in establishing or operating PPA.
Meanwhile, Lifman’s close friend Andre Naude revealed there was an attempt on his life last week.
Naude told Daily Voice: “Last Wednesday I was driving along the N1 highway near Paarl when a man pulled up next to me and showed me his gun.
“I pulled out my firearm and they sped away. No case was registered as nothing really happened.”