Cape Town - Hundreds of mourners arrived at Roy Road in Lansdowne on Tuesday to bid farewell to one of Cape Town’s most prominent criminal lawyers, Noorudien Hassan.
He was shot six times outside his home on Monday night.
Locals said they had heard several shots being fired.
Police said no arrests had been made and that they were searching for a lone gunman.
Community leader Hanif Loonat said Hassan had been at his house to water his plants like he always did and was accompanied by a Lansdowne police reservist who had been driving the car.
Hassan, 45, had been sitting in the passenger seat when he was confronted by a gunman. Loonat said he had been shot multiple times and left for dead.
He was rushed to hospital, but succumbed to his wounds, police confirmed.
The police closely monitored Hassan’s funeral. Police vans were parked nearby while armed private security guards patrolled the area.
Criminal lawyer Noorudien Hassan was shot six times outside his house in Burwood Street, Crawford. Picture: Tracey Adams/Cape Argus
At the time of his death, Hassan was the defence attorney in several high-profile cases including those of:
* Businessman and Spur franchise owner Irshaad Laher, who is facing charges of allegedly selling guns meant for destruction by police, to gang bosses in the Western Cape.
* Property businessman Jason Rohde, accused of killing his wife, Susan, at Spier Wine Estate.
* Cape Town music festival producer David Forbes, accused of murdering Toufiq Joseph in the city in January last year.
* Alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield, the nephew of the late Cape Town drug lord, Colin Stanfield, who is accused of gun licence fraud. Stanfield attended the funeral on Tuesday, wearing a bulletproof vest and surrounded by bodyguards.
* Three senior Western Cape police officers accused of a range of charges including racketeering and money laundering.
* Jerome “Donkie” Booysen, suspected of the murder of underworld figure Cyril Beeka.
In May 2014, Hassan escaped unharmed when an explosive device was hurled at his Lansdowne home, causing extensive damage.
Speaking at his funeral, his friends and associates praised him as a “good man” who had served his clients to the bitter end.
His associate, Dawood Khan, who worked with him for 11 years, said: “His ending was not foreseen. He was very hard-working and dedicated to his clients.
“He was at work on Monday and I could not imagine this would have happened. A colleague phoned me about a shooting incident. His brother let me know it was Noorudien.”
City advocate Christopher Ryker, who started out with Hassan in 1998, said: “He had a good heart. He was always a good friend.”
Hassan leaves his wife, Meraj, and his two children, aged four and nine.
* Police have urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
Cape Argus