Investigators probing the assassination of alleged underworld kingpin Mark Lifman swooped in on the head offices of PPA Security on Thursday morning, confiscating firearms.
Dramatic scenes unfolded as officers from the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) were spotted speeding along the N1 highway as they entered Northgate Island shortly after 10am.
According to a Daily Voice source, cops confiscated assault rifles that were allegedly not kept at the correct premises in terms of the company’s firearm licences.
Cops simultaneously descended on the home of a PPA employee in Table View as they shut down Elphinestone Avenue leaving neighbours confused.
It is understood that investigators set their sights on the employee after it was revealed that the car driven by Lifman’s alleged killers, Johann Jacobs and Gert Bezuidenhout, had been spotted in Flamingo Vlei two days before Lifman was murdered.
Lifman, 57, was gunned down in a hail of bullets on 3 November at the Garden Route Mall in George.
Cops busted Jacobs and Bezuidenhout shortly after they fled the scene.
According to the source, cops also discovered a stash of firearms at the home in Table View.
The insider reveals: “They found a whole lot of guns at his house and it was all taken for ballistic tests to compare the guns with the bullets found in Mark’s body.”
During the raid a tall, blonde man wearing a PPA t-shirt was seen leaving the house, but it is unclear if he was arrested.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Pojie said at this stage police would not be releasing any information on the raids.
He reports: “It is part of ongoing police investigation and this office will not be divulging any further detail in this regard.”
This comes just a month after Lifman’s closest friend Jerome “Donkie” Booysen openly accused Alwyn Landman of PPA of being behind the hit. At the time, the company denied having any role in Lifman’s murder.
Martin Hood of MJ Hood Attorneys confirmed that a search warrant was carried out at the premises of PPA Tactical and said: “PPA has at all times co-operated with SAPS, since shortly after the murder of Mr Lifman.
“I have been in communication with the investigating officer before and during the search, and have tendered full cooperation in the investigation.
“SAPS have removed some firearms for ballistic testing and supporting statutory documents such as registers and permit books.
“PPA respects Saps obtaining a search warrant, which in their view was unnecessary because of previous co-operation with saps but saps were within their rights to do so.”
Hood further said the two men charged with Lifman’s murder were not employed by PPA, but “rendered a service” for the company.
He confirms that the man whose home was raided on Thursday is employed by the company and is responsible for PPA’s firearms.
Hood concluded: “PPA has no involvement in the murder of Mr Lifman, hence its ongoing co-operation with SAPS. It has nothing to hide. PPA remains fully operational.”
monique.duval@inl.co.za