Cape Town - The Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations have now excluded the murder of AGU Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear as one of the reasons for alleged underworld crime boss Nafiz Modack dramatic arrest on Thursday.
The Hawks issued a new statement on Friday and removed Kinnear’s name and only referenced the arrest in connection with the attempted murder of Advocate William Booth.
Modack is set to appear in court on Monday.
An acquaintance close to Modack revealed to the Weekend Argus that the underworld figure was confident he will be granted bail because of the “bungle” of the charges.
He was also allegedly moved to another holding cell facility over the weekend.
Hours after Modack and three others aged between 29 and 49 were arrested in Century View on Thursday during a high speed chase where illegal firearms were confiscated from inside vehicles, the Hawks released a statement that the “capture,” related to the attempted murder of Advocate William Booth and the murder of Kinnear.
Also in the statement on Thursday evening was a comment from Police Minister Bheki Cele who congratulated the team for the arrests, stating that Kinnear’s murder was not random but a callous act that was part of a conspiracy.
Modack was seen on various videos shared on social media, wearing a white T-shirt with the word “Boss”’ and a black jacket while being handcuffed by special forces.
On Friday Colonel Katlego Mogale of the Hawks said they had withdrawn the first statement but would not say why Kinnear’s name had been excluded in the new version.
“The previous statement was withdrawn. The one sent the second time is the correct version,” he said.
In the new statement, Colonel Mogale said that three people were arrested, and not four, and the three were expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges relating to the attempted murder of an advocate.
The list of charges include conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, extortion and kidnapping.
“Three suspects aged between 29 and 49 were arrested Thursday and early this morning (Friday) by the DPCI National Task team, assisted by SAPS Special Task Force, Anti Gang unit, Vehicle Safeguarding Unit and Crime Scene Management in the execution of six warrants of arrests in Western Cape,” said Mogale.
“The arrests follows the cases of attempted murder of an advocate as well as gang related extortion, kidnapping and intimidation in the Milnerton area.”
Modack is no stranger to the dock.
Last year, he and three co-accused were acquitted of extorting Grand Africa Cafe & Beach in Cape Town.
Modack, Colin Booysen, Ashley Fields and Jacques Cronje were acquitted after the Cape Town Regional Court said it had too little evidence to prove extortion.
The case against Modack’s security manager, Petrus Visser, is expected to be heard on May 12.
Visser, who is charged with intimidation, had allegedly threatened Captain Edward du Plessis, according to court documents.
The alleged threat was that he abstained from his investigation into Kinnear’ case or face being killed.
Visser had allegedly called du Plessis, informing him that there was R1 million for his murder.
Visser is currently out on a R20 000 bail.
Weekend Argus