Quinton Mtyala
A WITNESS has identified a suspected member of the 28s as the man who allegedly fired the gun that killed a Bellville South drug dealer in a case which finally went to trial this week, more than two years after the incident.
Maxwill Davids, a suspected member of the 28s gang, and Samantha Bailey are on trial at the Western Cape High Court for the alleged murder of Hendrick Hugo on January 20, 2014.
Bailey has been described as a gang boss and the two are being charged under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca).
Henrico Daniels told Acting Judge Leslie Weinkove that at the time of Hugo’s death, he had used tik and mandrax, and was a frequent visitor to Bailey’s house.
Daniels had been friends with Hugo, who was also a known drug dealer, but operating from the area’s street corners, where he plied users with dagga and tik.
On the night his friend was shot, he had been walking in the area’s main road when they bumped into each other.
“I told him I wanted to smoke some mandrax. He asked me to hold on for a bit and he got a mandrax tablet, which we decided to smoke at another yard,” Daniels told Weinkove.
Most of his testimony on the stand was delivered as “yes” and “no”, as he was asked to confirm information by State advocate LJ Badenhorst.
Daniels said as they were about to start smoking the drugs, while seated in a disused car, a police van arrived and Hugo got out and asked the police whether there was any problem.
“They asked him if he had seen two men and he said ‘no’. As soon as they left, Davids appeared and said he wanted to join us in smoking the drugs, but we moved out of the car and into the back of the yard.”
Just as Hugo was about to smoke the mandrax, Daniels said he saw Davids point a gun to his head and fire a shot. Instinctively, he ran and heard two more shots.
Earlier another witness, Marshall Hendricks, who also lives in the area, had told the court Davids had been to his house three times on January 20, 2014, looking for Hugo.
The case continues today.