The trial of alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack has been put on hold until later this week due to one of the legal representatives falling ill.
After a week-long wait, proceedings were hamstrung on Monday as it was revealed that defence lawyer, Advocate Scanlyn Collins, was unable to attend court until Wednesday.
Modack and several others are on trial for an array of charges centred around the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear.
The large group also includes Zane Kilian, Ziyaad Poole, Moegamat Toufeek Brown, Riyaat Gesant, Fagmeed Kelly, Mario Petersen, Jacques Cronje, Petrus Visser, Janick Adonis, Amaal Jantjies, Ashley Tabisher, Yaseen Modack, Mogamat Adiel Mukudam and Ricardo Morgan.
They face a plethora of charges which includes murder, conspiracy to murder, fraud, racketeering and other charges in the mammoth underworld trial where they have all pleaded not guilty.
Court proceedings were put on hold last week due to the national elections and the need for police officers to be posted at the voting stations.
On Monday the accused arrived at court and were informed that Collins was ill and the case was postponed to tomorrow, when the Hawks detectives are set to return to the stand.
In the latest testimonies, Captain Edward Du Plessis began revealing how the underworld accessed the personal details of Kinnear and other targets including criminal lawyer William Booth.
Central to the state’s case is the murder of Kinnear and the attempted assassination of Booth who was shot at outside his Higgovale home in April 2020 in a botched hit.
According to the state’s case Modack had hired ex-rugby player and debt collector Kilian from Springs to trace Kinnear and Booth as well as their spouses by pinging their cellphones and gaining access to their personal financial information.
monique.duval@inl.co.za
Daily Voice