Latest news with #RalphStanfield
Daily Maverick
16-07-2025
- Daily Maverick
Alleged The Firm boss Ralph Stanfield linked to murders in gang feud
The State claims that alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield is the leader of the criminal gang, The Firm, alleged to have engaged in a bloody gang war with affiliates of the 27s, including Hard Livings, Dixie Boys, Sexy Boys and Ghetto Kids. Ralph Stanfield and his alleged organised criminal group, The Firm, is accused of planning and carrying out five murders, including those of former Hard Livings gang boss Rashied Staggie, former City of Cape Town official Wendy Kloppers and 28s gang member William 'Red' Stevens, who was one of the accused in the death of 'Steroid King' Brian Wainstein. They're also accused of murdering Ismail Abrahams and Faizel Adams, who were both killed in September 2021 in Parow. advertisement Don't want to see this? Remove ads These murder counts are among 40 charges against Stanfield, his wife Nicole Johnson and 13 other accused, which build a tapestry of the gang violence that has infiltrated most of Cape Town's notorious gangland areas. The indictment and summary of substantial facts were presented before the Cape Town Magistrates' Court on Monday, 14 July 2025. Seven members were in the dock while Stanfield, his wife and others appeared via video link. According to the State's court papers, Stanfield is allegedly the leader of The Firm, which fought against 27s prison gang associates, including Hard Livings, the Dixie Boys, Sexy Boys and Ghetto Kids. The areas where the continuous gang wars took place were Kraaifontein, Woodstock, Parow, Bellville, Belhar and Eerste River. The Firm's alleged reign of terror lasted from November 2019 to November 2023. It operated in Milnerton, Wynberg, Bishop Lavis, Kraaifontein, Parow, Somerset West, Belhar, Green Point, Kuils River and Blue Downs. The State's court papers say The Firm holds 'positions of leadership and subservience' similar to the system inspired by the 28s 'but not strictly adhered to the criminal gang in its activities and operations outside prison. Ralph Stanfield is the leader of the gang.' advertisement Don't want to see this? Remove ads In addition to Stanfield and his wife, the co-accused in the case include Johannes Abrahams, Denver Booysen, Jose Brandt, Jonathan Cloete, Abraham Wilson (deceased), Shakeel Pelston, Imtyaas Sedick, Warren Lee Dennis, Michael Morris, Chevonne McNabb, Sharazaadt Essop, Brandon Cornelius and Keathan Gardiner. The charges include murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, robbery, aiding and abetting criminal activity and contributing to a pattern of criminal gang activity in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. Read more: Fraud charges against Malusi Booi, Ralph Stanfield in R1bn tender case dropped, for now Meanwhile, in May 2025, the corruption case against former City of Cape Town councillor Malusi Booi, Stanfield, Stanfield's wife Nicole Johnson and nine others was provisionally withdrawn on Friday, 23 May 2025. Booi, a former mayoral committee member, was arrested in September 2024 and faced charges relating to alleged unlawful tenders worth more than R1-billion. Premeditated murders Topping the list of charges was the murder of the infamous gang boss Staggie outside his home in the Cape Town suburb of Salt River on 13 December 2019. Staggie was sentenced to jail in 2003 after he was convicted of ordering the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl who had turned State witness against him. advertisement Don't want to see this? Remove ads He was sentenced to 15 years for kidnapping and rape. He was then released on parole in 2013. In 2004, Staggie was also found guilty of robbing a weapons storage facility in Faure on the outskirts of Cape Town. However, these two sentences were served concurrently and Staggie was released in 2013 after spending 10 years in jail. advertisement Don't want to see this? Remove ads According to the summary of substantial facts, the State claims: 'On the morning of Friday, 13 December 2019, the accused Cloete, Pelston and Essop allegedly proceeded to the deceased's homestead in order to kill him as planned. Pelston and Essop armed themselves with firearms. 'Cloete allegedly drove his Ford Bakkie, Staggie was seated in a Toyota motor vehicle outside his home. Whilst Staggie was seated in the vehicle, Pelston and Essop approached Staggie and opened fire, fatally injuring the deceased.' Staggie was a member of the 26s prison gang and leader of the Hard Livings gang in Manenberg. advertisement Don't want to see this? Remove ads Stevens, murdered on 2 February 2021, was one of the accused alongside the late Mark Liftman, the late Andre Naude, Jerome 'Donkie' Booysen and others in connection with the 2017 murder of the global steroid smuggler, Wainstein. Read more: Underworld suspect shot dead – one week before scheduled court appearance in Cape Town for murder Nearly four years later, the State claims The Firm members Cloete and Morris allegedly unlawfully and intentionally killed Stevens. According to the summary of facts: 'On the afternoon of Tuesday, 2 February 2021, the accused Cloete, Morris and others proceeded to the area of Stevens to allegedly kill him as planned. advertisement Don't want to see this? Remove ads 'Morris and a person named Siya armed themselves with firearms, drove to Rembrandt Street. The deceased was seated in the street. Siya allegedly opened fire on the deceased from the vehicle. The driver stopped and Morris and Siya allegedly alighted from the vehicle and opened fire on Stevens. While shooting Stevens, they also shot a complainant and fled the scene.' Stevens was a member of the 27s prison gang. Cloete, the leader of The Firm in Kraaifontein, resided in the same area. Stevens, along with Jerome Booysen, were charged for the murder of Wainstein, who was seen as close to Stanfield. Cloete and others are alleged to have conspired and killed Stevens as revenge for Wainstein's murder. advertisement Don't want to see this? Remove ads City official Kloppers died in a hail of bullets in February 2023 at a housing development site in Delft. At the time Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis offered a reward of R100,000. A week before her demise, two construction workers came close to death after gunmen opened fire on them at a building site in Delft. Both men were wounded in the attack. Read more: Police hunt construction mafia killers after bullets fly at a Cape Flats building site A breakthrough came in June 2024 when a suspect handed himself over to police and was charged with murder and attempted murder. Dennis, Morris and Essop are accused of murdering Kloppers. According to the State's court papers, Kloppers was murdered after Dennis, Morris and Essop, as well as Simon Stanfield and Ernest MacLaughlin, who are both deceased, allegedly decided and planned to kill any white person at the housing development site in Delft. Stanfield and other alleged underworld figures were fighting to get their hands on the R400-million contract for the housing development. On the day of the shooting, the State claims that Dennis drove with Simon Stanfield and MacLaughlin to Delft, followed by Morris and Essop in their car. Morris is said to have proceeded to the development site and remained outside. The State further claims that Essop and another also proceeded to the development site in order to kill the white person as planned. Kloppers arrived at the housing site in her car, unaware that she was trapped and in peril. 'The driver in the motor vehicle in which Essop and another person was, stopped and alighted from the vehicle. They approached the deceased and a security guard and opened fire,' the State contends. Kloppers died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and the security guard sustained a gunshot wound to the right wrist. The first pre-trial conference in the case is set to take place in the Western Cape High Court on 7 November 2025. DM
The Herald
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
Stanfield gang trial looms as prosecutors push to reinstate R1bn fraud charges
The prosecution is pulling all the stops to reinstate charges in the R1bn Cape Town housing tender fraud case before alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield appears in the high court on gang-related charges in November. The prosecution provisionally withdrew fraud charges against Stanfield and former human settlements MMC Malusi Booi, and several others, in May. Stanfield, his wife Nicole Johnson and 13 other accused appeared in the Cape Town magistrate's on Monday on 41 counts. They range from murder to attempted murder, possession of illegal firearms and robbery. The matter was transferred to the high court in Cape Town for trial. They will make their first appearance in the high court on November 7. Eric Ntabazalila, the spokesperson for the prosecution, said the charges only related to 'murder, being a member of a gang, possession of illegal firearms, illegal possession of ammunition and robbery'. He said the state hopes all charges withdrawn in the R1bn city tender fraud matter will be reinstated against all the accused before Stanfield and Johnson's matter is heard in the high court. 'You will remember that the cases that involve financial crimes, including the City of Cape Town tender, were withdrawn because the investigation continues. We hope that investigation can be completed before the other matter goes to the high court on November 7,' said Ntabazalila. 'The investigation is continuing. We hope that it will be finalised in the next month or two. Our hope and plans are that when everyone goes to the high court, they will be joined by the group whose charges were withdrawn.' Stanfield, Johnson and a few others appeared virtually from the various prisons where they are held. Meanwhile, a group of people picketed and brandished placards outside court in support of Stanfield. 'Stanfield is kept in solitary ... for almost two years,' one placard read. Another placard accused the police anti-gang unit (GNU) of underhanded tactics. It read: 'The AGU uses illegal modus operandi to arrest and to incriminate the Common Man ...' After the hearing, the picketers neatly packed the placards into black refuse bags. The 13-page indictment that was read to the accused in court lists a slew of serious charges. It alleges that the accused were members of the ''The Firm' criminal gang, operating in Milnerton, Wynberg, Bishop Lavis, Kraaifontein, Parow, Somerset West, Belhar, Green Point, Kuils River and Bluedowns'. '... The 'criminal gang' comprises a group of three or more individuals, including Ralph Israel Stanfield, Nicole Tracey Johnson, Johannes Abrahams, Denver Booysen, Jose Brandt, Jonathan Cloete, Abraham Wilson, Shakeel Pelston, lmtyaas Sedick, Warren Lee Dennis, Michael Morris, Chevonne McNabb, Sharazaadht Essop, Brandon Conelius, Donovan van Wyk and Keathan Gardiner,' the indictment reads. According to the indictment, a 'criminal gang' has a formal or informal structure, with members holding ranks or leadership roles based on a system loosely inspired by the '28s' prison gang, though not always strictly followed outside prison. '... The accused are all members of 'THE FIRM' 'Criminal Gang' and were all members thereof at all times relevant to the indictment,' the indictment reads. According to the indictment, the alleged gang operated in parts of Cape Town between November 2019 and November 2023. Stanfield is accused of fraud linked to a 'black BMW'. He allegedly falsely claimed to a police officer in November 2022 that he was the owner of the car, 'with the intent to defraud and to the prejudice or potential prejudice of the name of the complainant'. According to the indictment, the 'victim is not disclosed' for safety purposes. Johnson allegedly pretended to be 'an employee of Tracker' and 'that she was the lawful owner of a black BMW'. 'She knew she was not the lawful owner of said motor vehicle,' the indictment reads. All 15 accused, including Stanfield and Johnson, are accused of robbery. They allegedly assaulted one of the victims in Valhalla Park in January 2023 and stole her Toyota Fortuner worth R170,000. Stanfield is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, which were found at his Constantia home in September 2023. 'On September 29 2023 the police proceeded to the home of [Stanfield] and [Johnson[ to arrest them,' the indictment reads. 'The police requested [Stanfield] and another male to lie on the ground. While on the ground the police spotted [Stanfield] trying to hand a key to another male. The police took the key and established that it is a safe key. The police opened the safe and found the firearm and ammunition ... [Stanfield] did not possess a licence for the said firearm and ammunition. He was thereafter arrested.' TimesLIVE
IOL News
14-07-2025
- IOL News
Alleged 28s boss Ralph Stanfield and co-accused face high court trial for Rashied Staggie's murder
Alleged 28s gang kingpin, Ralph Stanfield. Image: File The alleged leader of the 28s gang, Ralph Stanfield and his co-accused appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Monday, where it was revealed the group will be heading to face trial in the Western Cape High Court. Stanfield, his wife, Nicole Johnson, and 12 others face an array of charges in what is expected to be an explosive trial to hit the high court. The accused include: Johannes Abrahams, Denver Booysen, Jose Brandt, Jonathan Cloete, Shakeel Pelston, Imtyaas Sedick, Warren-Lee Dennis, Michael Morris, Chevonne McNab, Sharaxaadt Essop, Brandon Cornelius, and Keathan Gardiner. The other accused, Abraham Wilson, has since died. Alleged hitman Abraham Wilson has since died Image: File Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The group face 41 charges, including murder, attempted murder, fraud, illegal possession of firearms, illegal possession of ammunition, robbery, and theft of a motor vehicle. In an indictment handed over to the court, the group are alleged to have conspired and murdered Hard Livings (HL) gang boss Rashied Staggie in a hail of bullets on December 13, 2019, in London Road, Salt River. At the time, the 28s and HLs were embroiled in a hectic turf war. Hard Livings boss Rashied Staggie was gunned down in Salt River Image: File Staggie was killed on the same spot where his twin brother, Rashaad was shot and set alight in August 1996. The murder charges also relate to the late City of Cape Town employee Wendy Kloppers. Kloppers, 49, who worked for the City's Environmental Affairs Department, was gunned down on February 16, 2023, in Delft. Wendy Kloppers was gunned down in February 2023. Image: File The murder of 27s gang leader, William 'Red' Stevens, who was gunned down in February 2021, in Kraaifontein has also been listed among the charges. In its indicted handed over to the court, the State is set to prove that the group acted and are active members of a criminal gang known as 'The Firm' operating in Bishop Lavis, Valhalla Park, Delft, and Mitchells Plain and hold positions of leadership and subservience in accordance with the ranking system of the 28s prison gang. The indictment names Stanfield as the leader. Leader of 27s, William 'Red' Stevens, was gunned down. Image: File The Firm opposes and fights against members of the 27s prison gang, HLs, Dixie Boys, Sexy Boys, and Ghetto Kids operating in Kraaifontein, Woodstock, Parow, Bellville, Belhar, and Eerste River. The Western Cape spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Eric Ntabazalila, confirmed the matter has been transferred to the high court. The matter has since been postponed until November 7, 2025, for pre-trial. IOL
News24
31-05-2025
- General
- News24
The new Numbers game: Ralph Stanfield takes shortcut into 28s prison gang
Ralph Stanfield became the alleged head of the 28s street gang after the death of his uncle, Colin Stanfield, in 2004. After his arrest, Stanfield got a rapid induction into the 28s prison gang and became an initiated member, bypassing years of progression up the ranks. Stanfield faces multiple criminal charges. Ralph Stanfield, the alleged leader of the 28s street gang, has leveraged his criminal notoriety on the streets to achieve something exceptional in the South African prison system: rapid induction into the 28s prison gang. Stanfield was arrested in September 2023 and faces multiple criminal charges. During his incarceration, he has managed to bypass the customary years-long progression through the hierarchical structure of the Number - one of the world's oldest prison gang cultures - to become a ndota. The term - used to describe an initiated member of a prison numbers gang is derived from the isiZulu indoda, meaning a man. According to interviews with eight gang members, Stanfield's street credentials earned him this unprecedented position - a development that breaks with the deeply ritualised traditions of prison gang culture. Stanfield's swift ascendancy in the 28s prison gang represents the culmination of decades of erosion of once-sacred practices. It symbolises a fundamental shift in how power and status transfer between street and prison gang hierarchies in contemporary South Africa. The Number gangs have dominated South Africa's prisons for decades. The three groups - the 26s, 27s, and 28s - each have their own operations, beliefs and councils, known as parliaments, which sustain them as authorities within the prison system. The 26s are known as strategists and businessmen; the 27s are the enforcers of gang law; and the 28s are the advocates for better prison conditions. Their mythology dates back to the 19th century, with the apocryphal story of a wise man and two groups of bandits who established a criminal organisation to fight colonial exploitation. This symbolic legend provides an anchor point for the gangs and, before the transition to democracy, fed into their anti-apartheid ideological stance. For many prisoners, the Number provides an identity, a framework for masculinity, and a code to govern thoughts and actions. For some, it is an entire worldview. Traditional adherents of the Number do not see themselves as gangsters, but rather as law-makers, restoring order within the chaotic environment of the prison, albeit by violent means: attacking a prison warden, for example, is one of the rites of passage into the Number. As affiliation with the Number provides inmates with security and status, recruitment is highly selective. When they enter prison, potential members' personalities, physiques and lives are scrutinised by high-ranking ndotas. Inductees must align with the interests of their assigned camp. Becoming a member of the Number gang has historically involved a series of initiation rituals, an intimate understanding of the gang's history and mythology and a thorough knowledge of a set of commandments outlining the structures and organisational hierarchy, known as the twaalf punte (12 points). Recruits also spend time learning the covert communication system known as sabela. Sabela is a patois that includes elements of Afrikaans, English, isiZulu and isiXhosa, and has traditionally been used by the Number gangs as their own secret dialect. Finally, a separation between prison life and life on the streets has long been central to the ethos. 'The Number wasn't built for outside,' a former member of the 28s said. Various members interviewed agreed that the system was created to reign within the bounds of 'die vier hoeke [the four corners, which is a reference to prison walls]'. Upon entering prison, one's street gang identity, regardless of rank, was to be abandoned. However, this boundary between prison and street gang cultures has increasingly blurred in recent decades. Stanfield entered prison as the 28s street gang leader but was not an inducted 28s prison gang member. He had allegedly become the head of the 28s street gang after the death of his uncle, Colin Stanfield, in 2004. However, he was not a ndota. His sudden promotion during his incarceration can therefore be seen as a significant break with tradition, and the latest episode in a decades-long erosion of the ritualised processes that the Number gangs once entailed. The first major shift in the Number's rules and traditions began in the 1980s, coinciding with a massive rise in street gang activity as synthetic drugs such as mandrax (methaqualone) and ecstasy became ubiquitous. From the profits of these drug markets came increasingly professionalised gangs and wealthy gang leaders. First among these was Jackie Lonte, the boss of the Americans gang, who used his wealth to purchase his rank within the Number when he was imprisoned in the 1980s. This caused friction between the old order, which protested Lonte's coup, and a new order that embraced the development. In the years that followed, other gang bosses bought their way into the Number, opening the door to further changes. Gang customs, symbols and hostilities from the outside were imported into prison and vice versa, synergising South African prison and street gangsterism. READ | Fraud case not over for Stanfield, Booi and co despite provisional withdrawal – police In the 1990s, the new order within the Number began to gain influence, thanks to the financial backing of gang leaders with drug empires outside prison, while external political conditions, as South Africa entered democracy, threatened the old order. In post-apartheid South Africa, the Number's founding objective - to counter colonial exploitation through banditry - had become obsolete. Around the turn of the century, further changes were implemented. The new order within the 27s and 28s began to allow prisoners to be initiated while on remand, rather than only after being convicted and sentenced. This was partly in response to a massive influx of Americans gang members (who generally became 26s) following the gang's rise under the leadership of Lonte. In addition, by 2000, the entire top leadership of Pagad (People Against Gangsterism and Drugs), a militant vigilante group that used targeted violence to combat gangsterism, had been arrested. To counter the threat posed by Pagad within the prisons, Number recruitment was expanded. This shift was fiercely contested by the traditional order, who feared that on-remand prisoners who were not found guilty would leave prison before fully being initiated into the Number system. This risked the complexity of the Number system being inaccurately represented on the outside. As one former member of the 27s put it: 'The old guard of the Numbers were very adamant that you must not change the Number in any way … it must not be corrupted!' Some sources argued that these fears have been realised, that former on-remand prisoners have mischaracterised the Number after their release - 'one fucking idiot teaching another fucking idiot', as one member of the 28s put it - and that a simplified version of the Number has been exported to the streets. As one representative of the traditional order confirmed: [It] no longer signifies what it signified back in the day. Come 2000, the Number died down. Moreover, the entanglement of street and prison gangsterism led to the formation of Number street gangs - separate from their prison counterparts - and continued to soften the grip of the traditional order. The 28s, the gang that Stanfield allegedly leads, have been the most prominent of the three camps on the streets. By the 2010s, the 28s prison gang increasingly began to view the 28s street gang less as a separate organisation and more as a junior partner. South Africa's high recidivism rates reinforced this situation, as gang members cycled in and out of prison. When Stanfield stepped into this evolving environment upon his arrest in September 2023, he became a catalyst for further change. As the leader of the street 28s, he was able to exploit and formalise the connections that already existed between his street gang and prison 28s. Sources close to the 28s have argued that if Stanfield, a figure of respect and authority outside prison, lacked formal recognition inside, the internal balance of power would be disrupted. 'Obviously, it's not going to be good if the boss of all the 28s on the street does not have a rank with the 28s in prison,' one 28s member said. Stanfield's street status was therefore sufficient to elevate his prison status; he did not need millions of rand to purchase his rank, and he did not have to endure a violent recruitment. His case may be fairly unique, but his rise to ndota status suggests a further softening of the Number's rules. This new avenue to become part of the prison Number is also solid evidence of the current dominance of the gang's new order. As much as Stanfield's fast-track admission into the Number is a new development, it also speaks to a systemic shift away from a rigid tradition over time. The beneficiaries of illicit enterprises outside prison are reshaping the Numbers' mythological roots by means of their wealth and status, redefining what it means to be powerful in South Africa's underworld. The Number now finds itself in a transitional phase. It is still very much present and fundamental to the structure of everyday life in prison, but changes to its traditions - from the admission of on-remand prisoners to the sudden elevation of Stanfield - are becoming more common. Stanfield's situation is likely to have some effect on the relationship between the 28s street gang and its prison equivalent, but whether the two will align more closely remains unclear. However, the continued fragmentation of what was once a unifying system centred around resistance to colonial oppression threatens to cause tensions both on the streets and within the prisons of the Western Cape. Moreover, the synergy between street and prison gangsterism is likely to allow hostilities to spill over and be acted upon in both spaces. As a senior former 27s member puts it: 'This big divide between the … different factions of the Number causes trouble.' This article appears in the latest edition of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime's quarterly Western Cape Gang Monitor and is produced by its South Africa Organized Crime Observatory. The Global Initiative is a network of more than 500 experts on organised crime drawn from law enforcement, academia, conservation, technology, media, the private sector and development agencies. It publishes research and analysis on emerging criminal threats and works to develop innovative strategies to counter organised crime globally.
IOL News
26-05-2025
- IOL News
Ralph Stanfield R1 billion housing tender fraud: Police vow investigation is still ative
Alleged leader of the 28s gang, Ralph Stanfield. Image: Willem Law/File Police in the Western Cape said their investigation into alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and others remains on course. This, despite the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) provisionally withdrawing commercial charges against the group on Friday, May 23. The charges related to a R1 billion housing tender fraud case. The group who saw the charges withdrawn included Stanfield, his wife, Nicole Johnson, former City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for human settlements Malusi Booi, and seven others. The scandal escalated during Booi's term in office, as accusations emerged that he, along with the Stanfields, had manipulated housing tenders to benefit companies under their influence. The allegations suggested a web of corruption aimed at misappropriating public funds intended for housing development. Malusi Booi appears in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court. Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers The Western Cape police spokesperson, Brigadier Novela Potelwa, said this is not uncommon in complex investigations for the direction of the investigation to change in recognition of new and additional information that emerges as part of the investigation. 'It is not uncommon in complex investigations for the direction of the investigation to change in recognition of new and additional information that emerges as part of the investigation. Even in this case, when the commercial crimes investigators became privy to new information, that had to be incorporated into the investigation. Suffice it to indicate that it is envisaged that the commercial charges provisionally withdrawn will be reinstated in due course,' Potelwa said. Police have assured that the charges being provisionally withdrawn in no way indicate a failure on the part of investigators. 'Rather, a change in direction, taking into account the legal framework within which, as a law enforcement agency, the SAPS is compelled to operate,' Potelwa said. Western Cape for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, explained why the charges were provisionally withdrawn. 'Police discovered new evidence during their investigation, and it is apposite at this stage to provisionally withdraw the 16 commercial charges against the accused pending the finalisation of the investigation stemming from the newfound evidence. The State will reinstate the charges once the investigation has been finalised,' he said. [email protected] IOL Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel.
