Ashraf Cajee smelled a rat. A missing docket, an investigating officer who had vanished and a simple case of grievous bodily harm against notorious hitman Mikey Schultz that took a year to be investigated.
But after long hours waiting in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court this week, a frazzled-looking Cajee walked away from his case against Schultz - one of the self-confessed killers of mining tycoon Brett Kebble - deciding instead to meet him that afternoon in a bid to iron out their differences.
Cajee claimed that Schultz accosted him and his wife as they left the Taboo nightclub in Sandton last May. His wife was feeling unwell, and they had dropped off their son for his birthday at the club. In the fight that broke out, Schultz allegedly bit his cheek and his friends took part in the assault.
Schultz then laid a counter charge of assault against Cajee.
“Look, I’m no angel,” shrugged Cajee, owner of Outlawz Security Services in Mayfair.
“I’ve got a lot of skeletons in my closet. So does he (Schultz). The difference is he is proud of his and I’m not…”
He said he withdrew the case “in the best interests of family and my businesses”.
Much of the focus of Schultz’s brief court appearance this week centred on the counter charge, with Schultz claiming that Cajee assaulted him first that night.
Last week police told Weekend Argus prosecutors would not pursue the counter charge of assault.
“I didn’t want to prolong the inevitable,” Cajee said of the case.
“The chances are he would’ve walked anyway. It took a year for my case to come to court. He has walked from bigger cases than this. He is connected to bigger people than I am, and is now a celebrity, writing books and making movies. What chance do I stand?”
He added that they were supposed to appear in court in Sandton, not Randburg.
”My investigating officer has all of a sudden gone on leave in the time my case comes up. They initially said my docket was lost. But my lawyer (Saleem Ebrahim) tracked the docket locked in a senior prosecutor’s office.”
Cajee, who describes himself as a “lone ranger”, sat outside court with his wife Naz. She is still shaken by a hijacking three weeks ago outside their West Rand home.
“My four sons are my friends. I’m a lone ranger. I don’t come to court with lots of big back-up. That’s not my image.”
He was referring to Schultz, sporting his familiar crewcut and wearing a black suit and tie, who joked with friends bouncer Nigel McGurk and former Kaizer Chiefs striker Marc Batchelor.
Cajee explained that he and Schultz share a mutual friend – Faizel “Kappie” Smith, an accomplice in the Kebble murder.
“This was just a big misunderstanding. It came through people we both knew. This is what brought bad blood between us.”
He said his life centred on his sons, the oldest of whom is 21 and the youngest six.
“I changed my life in 1994 and became a God-fearing man. I have an extremely successful business, but just in my family and my children I’m the wealthiest person in the world. I wouldn’t want to jeopardise that for anything.”
He was “disgusted” by his past.
“What you heard about them (Schultz) is nothing as opposed to what you heard about me. But I was young and naive. I have true regret and remorse and have tried to make amends.
“They (Schultz) are still in that environment. My wife is my pillar of strength. I’ve been with her 24 years. It’s because of her I had the courage and guts to leave that life.”
Schultz could not be contacted for comment. - Saturday Star