Still no arrests 4 years after Beeka killed

Cyril Beeka was murdered in 2011. File photo: Leon Muller

Cyril Beeka was murdered in 2011. File photo: Leon Muller

Published Mar 21, 2015

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Cape Town - Four years ago, businessman and rumoured spy Cyril Beeka was slain in a drive-by shooting that rocked the underworld and exposed a Serbian assassin.

The case remains unsolved.

This week his family said that despite four years having gone by and no arrests being made for his killing, they still hoped to find closure.

Alleged Sexy Boys gang leader Jerome “Donkie” Booysen, who was previously named in court as a suspect in Beeka’s killing, and who was the last person Beeka visited before he was gunned down, also told Weekend Argus he would keep Beeka in his thoughts today.

Beeka, 49, a former bouncer boss who worked for RAM Hand-to-Hand couriers, and who was rumoured to have also worked for the National Intelligence Agency, was murdered on March 21, 2011 in Bellville South.

His killing had a ripple effect on the underworld, with nightclub security companies apparently vying to dominate the industry following his murder.

This week it emerged that there were still no developments in the investigation into Beeka’s killing.

Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut said: “There is no new information to report regarding this murder.”

Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the murder was still being investigated.

On the afternoon of his killing, Beeka had been with Serbian fugitive Dobrosav Gavric, who at the time was going by the alias Sasa Kovacevic, and had visited Booysen in Belhar.

Gavric is wanted in Serbia, where he faces a 35-year jail sentence for murdering two people and for assassinating Serbia’s most feared warlord Zeljko Raznatovic, better known as Arkan, 15 years ago.

In the moments leading up to Beeka’s murder, following their visit to Booysen, Gavric had been driving when bullets were sprayed into the 4x4 BMW along Modderdam Road in Bellville South.

A motorbike carrying two people had stopped next to the car at a set of traffic lights, and 17 shots were fired at the vehicle.

Beeka was wounded in the chest, arms and head, while Gavric was wounded in the arms.

Gavric’s real identity was exposed months later when he was arrested after cocaine was found in a bag when he was discharged from hospital.

He is still being detained pending court proceedings he lodged to try to secure refugee status in South Africa.

This week, Beeka’s brother Eddie Beeka said each year when the anniversary of Beeka’s death rolled around, it was tough on his family.

“It’s always a challenging time. But it brings the family closer together.

“I don’t think any event or arrest will bring my brother back. We’re just hoping for closure, I think,” he said.

Eddie Beeka said the police had not kept the family updated about progress in the murder probe. Nor had the family approached the police for reports.

Meanwhile, Booysen told Weekend Argus he and Beeka had been “good friends”.

“I will definitely think of him (today),” he said.

Three years ago, in a case focusing on Gavric in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, investigating officer Paul Hendrikse testified that Booysen was a suspect in Beeka’s murder.

Booysen, who has denied involvement in the killing, said this week he was unsure of why he had been named.

“Up until today nothing’s happened with that,” he said.

During the court case three years ago, aside from testifying about Booysen, Hendrikse had testified that at the time of Beeka’s murder the police organised crime unit in Gauteng had been investigating him for illegal diamonds, drug trafficking and murder.

Hendrikse also testified that there had been rumours Beeka was working for the National Intelligence Agency, but that the agency had denied this.

Beeka’s murder was reminiscent of the killing of Yuri “The Russian” Ulianitski, who was gunned down in Milnerton eight years ago.

That case also remains unsolved.

Weekend Argus

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