Johannesburg - A Gauteng man claims he handed over crucial information to the police top brass that could have led to the arrest of the killers of Mark Andrews and Ian Jordaan.
The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he went to the police a day after Andrews was killed and gave them all the information about the murder as well as intimate details about the criminal underworld in Joburg.
A source in the SAPS, who wanted to remain anonymous, seemed to confirm the claim, saying certain senior police officials, whose names are known to The Star, wanted the matter swept under the carpet because they could be implicated.
“They are involved in the criminal underworld and they feared that if the matter is investigated, they could rot in jail,” the source said.
Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi said they were in the process of organising a meeting with the man. He said the man had approached Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza with the allegations and that a senior official had been assigned to investigate the matter.
Mulaudzi said they would also investigate the allegation that certain members of the Hawks were involved with the criminal underworld. In an exclusive interview, the man who worked as Andrews’s bodyguard said he told the police everything he knew about the killings of Jordaan and Andrews.
“They were killed by the same people,” he said, adding that he was with Andrews when he was kidnapped, but managed to get away.
But Andrews was not so lucky. His lifeless body was discovered next to the R59 highway in Alberton in September 2011. Andrews was a former business partner of Lolly Jackson and ex-manager of the Cresta branch of the Teazers strip club.
Andrews’s death was among a series of mysterious murders that rocked the Joburg underworld between 2009 and 2013. He had been shot execution-style with a bullet wound to his head, with his hands tied behind his back.
His body was found within a few days of the killing of Jackson’s family lawyer, Jordaan, whose body was found burnt almost beyond recognition after he disappeared.
Jordaan had apparently made a transfer of R1.8 million from his firm’s trust account into a Bidvest account that belonged to Andrews.
The man gave a chilling account about what happened the night Andrews was killed.
He said they were kidnapped by two men at the Balfour Mall around 5pm. He added that he and Andrews had parked the vehicle they were travelling in and climbed into the one belonging to the two men.
“They were dressed very smartly. These are professional killers, they don’t talk too much,” he said. The man said the pair were constantly on the phone, speaking to a person they referred to as “boss”.
“It was a super-strange set-up once we were in the car.”
He said the pair drove onto the R59 towards Vereeniging, and the car suddenly stopped near a stretch of veld.
“They pointed firearms at us and ordered us to get out of the car. I realised it was war and this could be my last day. I tried to get out of the situation and ran away.”
The man said that as he ran and dived for cover, the pair sprayed him with bullets.
That was the last time he saw Andrews alive.
“It was dark and I was not sure if these people would pursue me. I tried to walk far away from the road because the lights of the cars would make it easy for them to see me,” he added.
After walking for several kilometres, a truck driver stopped and offered him a lift. “I was not sure if Mark was going to get out of the situation. But I was hoping he would… Mark was the strong one and flippant… brave.”
The man said he believed Andrews was killed because he owed someone a huge amount of money. “He met strange characters, but he would handle his affairs all by himself. Most of the time I would drive and stay far away from him at his meetings.”
He said he heard in the news the next morning that Andrews’s body had been discovered on the R59 highway. Shortly after he had given the police information about who could be linked to the hit, there were several attempts on his life.
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