mxolisi madela

Dan Plato. Photo Mxolisi Madela

Caryn Dolley

HIGH-RANKING police officers are on the payrolls of drug lords and underworld figures and this is why some of them are managing to get away with repeatedly committing crime, says Community Safety MEC Dan Plato.

He made these accusations based on information he has been gathering about the city’s lucrative and notorious bouncer industry, which is now being dominated by a new company – Specialised Protection Services (SPS).

SPS, backed by businessmen police say are linked to organised crime, was set up after underworld figure Cyril Beeka’s murder in March and is an amalgamation of two companies, one previously run by Beeka.

In recent weeks a number of city club owners have contacted Plato complaining that they are being intimidated and threatened by individuals trying to force them to use particular bouncers.

This seems to be spreading beyond the city, with reports emerging over the past two weeks of club owners in Stellenbosch being intimidated.

Of five Stellenbosch clubs the Cape Times contacted, an employee at one answered a terse “yes” and hung up when asked if he had been intimidated.

Asked if he had received threats, an employee at another club replied: “Not yet. But my friends at other clubs have. Please don’t use our name.”

Three other clubs, one of which uses SPS, had not experienced any threats to employees.

Plato said club owners, and others who were concerned about the situation, were too afraid to contact the police and told him this was because police officers were involved with those they wanted to lodge complaints against.

“They’ve got no trust in the police because there are too many officers on (crime bosses’) payrolls,” he said.

The names and ranks of officers allegedly receiving bribes were known and Plato was taking the matter up with police management.

Plato was planning to set up a separate phone line specifically for those feeling intimidated by security company

bosses to call anonymously.

In a recent interview with the Cape Times, André Naudé, an SPS chief executive officer, listed two businessmen, Mark Lifman and Jerome Booysen, as people backing the company.

In the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court last month, during the bail application of Serbian fugitive Dobrosav Gavric, who was driving Beeka when he was murdered, the investigating officer Paul Hendrikse said Lifman was being investigated for organised crime.

Three years ago Lifman had for the second time been acquitted of having sex with underage boys.

Hendrikse testified Booysen was a suspect in Beeka’s murder and a member of the Sexy Boys gang.

Lifman and Booysen have repeatedly declined to speak to the media. While Naudé admitted the two helped his company, he consistently denied SPS was involved in any illegal activities.

But Plato said the links to those possibly involved in crime was concerning.

“People have been phoning my office and me personally, asking why the government is not dealing with these issues. We’ve got a liberal set of laws, but our law shows a clear inability to deal with these underworld issues. It seems for years these guys can just do what they want and get away with it.

“Why can’t our police intelligence unravel this?” Plato said.

He again reiterated that it was perhaps time to reinstate specialised police units that were disbanded years ago, so that particular areas of crime could be better focused on.

A source close to the investigation, who declined to be named, said he was aware of judges and attorneys who were being payed off by underworld criminals so that if their cases ever got to court, they would be thrown out. The source said clubs in Cape Town were smokescreens for major drug dealing operations, especially involving cocaine, and police and criminals were involved.

In an interview Igor Russol, best friend of slain underworld boss and former bouncer Yuri “the Russian” Ulianitski, said he knew of a number of officers receiving bribes from those involved in organised crime and linked to the bouncer industry.

Responding to the bribery claims, police spokesman Andrè Traut said corruption was a high priority.

“We will not hesitate to take action against police officers who are in cahoots with drug dealers,” he said.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za