The recent murder of alleged underworld gang boss Mark Lifman has reportedly caused an increase in gang violence on the Cape Flats, according to Anroux Marais, Western Cape MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety, Cape {town} Etc reports.
Lifman was gunned down in an apparent hit at the Garden Route Mall parking lot in George last month, on 3 November, as reported by Cape Talk.
According to the Cape Crime Crisis Coalition, more than 150 people were shot and killed in Cape Flats areas in the last three months, with Lifman’s murder having sparked an increase in gang violence in the province, according to Marais.
Cape {town} Etc previously reported how the George Magistrates’ Court postponed the bail application to 16 and 17 January for Lifman’s accused killers, Gert ‘Johnny’ Bezuidenhout and Johan ‘Jakes’ Jacobs.
The delay was caused by the unavailability of a senior advocate who represented the two accused.
In addition, Bezuidenhout and Jacobs were not being held at George Correctional Centre but at another undisclosed prison for safety reasons.
After the court case, several of Lifman’s acquaintances and associates which included Jerome ‘Donkie’ Booysen, André Naudé, and Joel Booysen, visited the Garden Route Mall parking lot, placing bunches of Protea flowers at the spot where he was killed.
It has also been alleged that Lifman’s murder may have been orchestrated for an R10 million bounty on his life, as previously reported by Cape {town} Etc.
During Jacobs and Bezuidenhout’s appearance in the George Magistrates’ Court on 13 November, details emerged of a six-month plot to kill Lifman, reportedly aimed at claiming the lucrative reward.
Both accused allegedly made repeated trips to the Garden Route Mall, where they monitored Lifman’s movements, mapped escape routes and planned the execution.
The bounty on Lifman’s head reportedly originated after an altercation earlier this year, which involved a high-profile businessman in Middelburg.
During the incident, the businessman mentioned Lifman’s name in a pub, which led to tensions that sparked further motives for the alleged bounty.
This was also alongside competing interests over lucrative security contracts for mines in the area.
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PPA Security allegedly tied to assassination of underworld boss Mark Lifman
Picture: Jaco Marais / Gallo Images
