Nafiz Modack allegedly put an R3 million hit on Cape Town lawyer William Booth to avenge the 2018 murder of Advocate Pete Mihalik.
Also read: Court told that Nafiz Modack ordered a hit on Hawks officer
The 50-year-old Mihalik was shot and killed while dropping his two children off at Reddam House Atlantic Seaboard in Green Point. At the time, he was Modack’s legal representative.
Modack and 14 others stand trial for 124 charges, including murder, attempted murder, corruption, gangsterism, extortion, illegal interception of communications, money laundering and the contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
On Tuesday, State witness ‘Mr A’ made another revelation: that Modack ordered a hit on attorney William Booth as he blamed Sexy Boys gang boss Jerome ‘Donkie’ Booysen (who Booth represents) for Mihalik’s murder.
Mr A, an alleged member of the Terrible West Siders (TWS) gang in Woodstock, can not be named to protect his identity.
Last week, Mr A testified that Modack also ordered a hit on a Hawks officer in 2019. However, Mr A, who was to carry out the murder, killed the officer’s father instead in a case of mistaken identity.
He is currently serving a 25-year sentence for Nicolaas Heerschap’s murder, Daily Maverick reports.
In August 2023, Sizwe Biyela, Nkosinathi Khumalo and Vuyile Maliti received life sentences for the murder of Mihalik.
‘It was an eye for an eye. Mihalik was Modack’s lawyer. He believed that Booysen allegedly killed Mihalik. Then Modack ordered that Booth, who was Booysen’s lawyer, be taken out. There was a ransom [sic] of R3 million to take out Booth,’ Mr A told the Western Cape High Court.
As per News24, Booth survived seven attempts on his life.
Mr A stated that he tried to kill Booth between September and December 2019. He had already been arrested for having the gun used to kill Heerschap. However, he was released for unknown reasons before his first court appearance.
According to him, Ziyaad Poole – one of Modack’s co-accused – sent him a picture of Booth and instructed him to murder him. When he asked why, he was allegedly told that Booysen was behind the murder of Modack’s lawyer (Mihalik).
Attempt one: Mr. A waited outside a Newlands hotel by the swimming pool but he fell asleep in his car after turning on the heater.
Attempt two: Mr A stated that he waited outside a Bishopscourt residence, waiting for Booth. He planned to kill him in the street. Booth never came out.
Attempt three: He tried to kill Booth outside the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court but backed off when he saw police officers nearby, who had come out for lunch.
Attempt four: In December 2019, he parked near Booth’s law firm in Bo Kaap, waiting for him to appear. Poole called to inform him that Booth was at the Parow Regional Court, but Mr A insisted it couldn’t be true as he still had Booth’s car in sight. Booth allegedly caught an Uber.
Attempt five: After reporting to his parole officer behind the Cape Town Regional Court for an unrelated crime, he went back to Bo Kaap to attempt Booth’s assassination but eventually abandoned the plan and left.
He reportedly also performed other jobs during this time.
He fired shots at security company boss Andre Naude’s sliding door and the top-storey windows of his house, allegedly following Modack’s orders. He also attempted to intimidate Naude by showing up at his residence and luring him outside, but without success.
For his next job, Mr A said he shot Richard Joseph, a tow truck driver for CF Towing. He was allegedly told that Modack had a conflict with the owner of CF Towing, as the owner had met with Booysen, Modack’s rival.
According to Mr A, Modack instructed that ‘any driver’ from the company should be shot and killed to show them he ‘doesn’t play games’. Mr A subsequently chose Joseph as his target.
In December 2019, Mr A and another person linked to Modack, Fagmeed Kelly, got arrested for shooting someone who allegedly attacked Kelly in Woodstock. While in custody for that, the police brought back charges against Mr A for another case where he supposedly shot at them during a search in Woodstock.
During the incident with the police, Mr A said he ran away but also turned to shoot at them. The police then shot him three times in his legs.
He added that one of his bullet wounds was very painful.
He stated that he was treated by a doctor who worked in a shipping container next to the Samora Michel taxi rank. He received six injections in his leg before the doctor ‘operated’ on him.
When arrested for the shooting, he found himself handcuffed to a bed in Groote Schuur Hospital and was brought to court the following day for his initial hearing. However, he was released from the court cells by a court orderly without making an appearance in court.
This marked his second release from holding cells without appearing in court.
While in Pollsmoor Prison awaiting trial for the Woodstock assault-related shooting and the police shooting cases, Mr A recounted that Moegamat Brown, another co-accused, contacted him on his jail cellphone, informing him that the Booth job was still ‘open’ and assigned to Riyaat Gesant and someone called ‘Boeta Bul’. However, they required Mr A’s assistance to confirm Booth’s vehicle.
The following day, Brown video-called him on his jail cellphone from outside Booth’s office in Bo Kaap, requesting him to identify Booth’s car by pointing it out.
The sixth attempt on Booth’s life occurred on 8 April 2020. Ibrahim Deare and Gesant waited in a field near Booth’s house to shoot him. They got high, and Deare fell into a hole, injuring his leg badly and needing hospital treatment.
The following day, Deare and Gasant returned. They reportedly shot at Booth while he was in his open garage. While not hurt, he was shaken.
As per the indictment, News24 reports, Modack, co-accused Zane Kilian, Brown, Poole, Gesant, Kelly and another co-accused, Mario Peterson, conspired to murder Booth between September 2019 and April 2020.
Although Gesant entered a plea and sentencing agreement in 2021 for a five-year jail term, the remainder denies the allegations.
Mr A will return to court on Wednesday.
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Nafiz Modack reportedly facing financial constraints while awaiting trial
Picture: Joe / Unsplash