Thirteen security guards from Specialised Protection Services (SPS) have been arrested in a series of raids on Cape Town nightclubs.
The arrests on Friday night were followed by a battle between SPS bouncers aligned with the Sexy Boys gang and Nigerian drug dealers.
Moroccan kickboxing champion Hoossain Ait Taleb, who is one of SPS’s most senior bouncers, was among those arrested. By 6pm last night the bouncers remained in custody at Cape Town Central police station.
Last Sunday Weekend Argus revealed that SPS, which moved in to take control of nearly 200 city nightclubs after the assassination of underworld kingpin Cyril Beeka, was operating illegally.
This was confirmed by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), which said SPS was not licensed as a legitimate provider of security services.
The 13, including seven South Africans, three Congolese, a Nigerian and a Moroccan, all aged between 26 and 56, were arrested outside the Assembly club in Harrington Street and The Loop club in Loop Street at about 8pm.
A few hours later, at about 11pm, Ait Taleb, 42, was taken into custody for allegedly pointing a firearm after he and a group of Nigerian men got into a fight.
The twelve SPS bouncers who were initially arrested were charged with operating without permits and contravening the Private Security Regulatory Authority Act of 2001, Western Cape police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk confirmed yesterday.
Van Wyk said the Cape Town Central police station “embarked on an operation targeted at the city night life”.
“We are concerned about individuals posing as security officers being deployed at city night spots to supposedly protect patrons,” he added.
Controlled by Beeka’s one-time rival in the bouncer business, André Naudé, and Sea Point businessman Mark Lifman, SPS also has links to Jerome “Donkie” Booysen, who was named by police in court recently as a suspect in Beeka’s murder.
Advocate Pete Mihalik and attorney Noorudien Hassan arrived at the Cape Town Central police station about 11pm on Friday night, staying until 1am trying to bail out the bouncers.
They were still trying at 6pm yesterday.
Lifman, who owns The Loop nightclub, was also present to support his security guards.
After the arrests of the first SPS bouncers, various sources said Nigerians moved into the areas left vacant by the jailed bouncers.
This caused conflict between Ait Taleb and two Nigerians he accused of dealing in drugs.
When an armed Ait Taleb tried to overpower the Nigerians, they called for help.
Soon a large group of Nigerians came to the aid of the two Nigerians Ait Taleb had confronted.
They allegedly attacked Ait Taleb, but backed off when police sprayed them with pepper spray and arrested Ait Taleb.
According to a police source, Ait Taleb’s job at SPS involves “driving out drug dealers who don’t belong to the Sexy Boys gang”.
The source further alleged that Ait Taleb beat up opposing drug dealers before “taking the drugs and cash they have on them”.
“The Sexy Boys have taken town and only they are allowed to run drugs in town.”
Explaining the Sexy Boys’ style of operating, he added: “They infiltrate a community and then overpower them.”
Club owners have complained about being threatened and intimidated into signing contracts with SPS.
Ait Taleb was also the main man in town during the reign of SPS’s predecessor, Pro-Security, run by Beeka in the 1990s and early 2000s.
During that time Ait Taleb was frequently accused of trashing nightclubs, along with a group of thugs, and beating and intimidating patrons in an attempt to force the nightclubs to sign up with Pro-Security.
Van Wyk said the police would not tolerate “a stronghold in our city over our nightspots”. - Sunday Argus