CAPE TOWN - Police watchdog, Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), confirmed they would be launching an investigation into allegations made against senior SAPS personnel in the criminal case of accused murderer and alleged underworld figure Nafiz Modack and six co-accused.
Ipid spokesperson Grace Langa confirmed this following Wednesday's bail hearing at the Blue Downs Regional Court, where Modack, Jacques Cronje and AGU cop Ashley Tabisher were denied bail.
"Ipid confirms the matter is under investigation. We investigate the allegations and not an individual. The preliminary outcome will lead us to the person to be called to account for whatever we would have found. At this stage, we do not investigate an individual or target any person, but we investigate allegations brought to our attention," said Langa.
The investigation was spurred on by allegations Tabisher had made in his bail application affidavits alleging that he had been acting under the auspices and direction of his two superiors, the Western Cape AGU head Major-General André Lincoln and Captain Franklin Stone.
The State alleges Tabisher had been corrupted as a police officer after he was convinced by Amaal Jantjies to give information in exchange for R10 000 and a phone valued at about R3 500.
According to court documents, a corrupt relationship existed between Modack, Jantjies (another accused and associate of Modack who is also before the court with her co-accused Jenick Adonis) and Tabisher, who was to let Modack know when the AGU would be coming to his address as he wanted to be “ready for them” in November 2019.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said: "The strong cooperation between the NPA and the Hawks has paid dividends as the Blue Downs Regional Court denied bail to the notorious gang leader, Nafiz Modack, his lieutenant Jacques Cronje and a former member of the SAPS Anti-Gang Unit, Ashley Tabisher.
"The court agreed with the state that the accused failed to show there were exceptional and compelling circumstances for them to be released on bail and that the state has a prima facie case against them. The lengthy bail application, marked by several challenges, including the evidence of the State, the schedule under which the accused should be charged, would not have been successfully opposed if the state did not utilise the affidavits of Captain Pieter Joubert, Colonel Eddie Clark, Captain Edward Du Plessis and Captain Shaw who investigated the case," said Ntabazalila.
The charges against Modack, Cronje, Tabisher and their co-accused Adonis, Jantjies, Zane Killian and Ricardo Morgan include conspiracy to commit murder and murder of the AGU member, Colonel Charl Kinnear, who was assassinated outside his house on September 18, 2020.
The charges also include conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder of Cape Town lawyer William Booth. Other charges relate to managing and participating in the activities of a criminal enterprise, corruption and money laundering, intimidation, kidnapping and extortion, malicious damage to property and several charges of unlawful and intentional interception of communication.
The Acting Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, Advocate Nicolette Bell, welcomed the decision and commended the "exemplary cooperation of the prosecution team and members of the Hawks that is bearing fruits".