Cape Town - Parow resident David Orr, who was murdered on Tuesday morning, had described himself as the legitimate owner of taxis, a liquor store and a building business.
However, it’s alleged he was one of the biggest manufacturers of mandrax for the Sexy Boys gang from Belhar.
Two gunmen approached Orr, 39, at 9am while he was walking out of his Rissik Street home towards his bakkie, and shot and killed him.
“Another male was shot and wounded when he chased after the suspects. The suspects fled the scene on foot. Currently the motive for the incident is unknown. A case of murder and attempted murder has been opened,” said police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andrè Traut.
Orr said in an affidavit he earned R30 000 a month through his legal businesses and was supporting his eight children, all from different mothers, and his 77-year-old mother, Maria Magdalena Orr.
But the Hawks arrested him in February last year for allegedly taking part in manufacturing the active ingredient of mandrax, methaqualone, worth more than R450 000 when they raided homes owned by the alleged leader of the Sexy Boys gang, Jerome “Donkie” Booysen.
In his affidavit in support of his bail application at the time, Orr denied all the charges against him and accused the Hawks of manufacturing the evidence against him.
“I am not a gangster. I am a businessman and I am not a member of any drug syndicate whatsoever,” said Orr, who was released on R20 000 bail.
He said he employed 14 people at his liquor store and was also working on “various building projects”.
But the Hawks have linked him to clandestine drug laboratories they discovered in Booysen’s homes. Orr and three other suspects - Abdul Adendorf, Brandon Smith and Kenny Hansen - allegedly cooked up chemicals there and turned them into illegal drugs.
Adendorf, Smith and Hansen will appear in the Khayelitsha Regional Court on June 23 again in connection with dealing in the drugs.
When police tried to enter one of the homes on Vindoux Street in Durmonte, Durbanville, Orr and the three others allegedly tried to burn down the drug factory inside the home, for which they were charged with arson. Orr was suspected of having fled the blazing home and making his way to another house, not knowing the police were about to raid there as well.
They found Orr hiding behind a tablet press that produces mandrax tablets called “Bentleys”. These are imprinted with the emblem of the Bentley car manufacturing company.
But Orr said in his statement he was found at the Vermeer Street house because he wanted to buy secondhand furniture there.
Orr’s identity document and various cards in his name - from Truworths, Nedbank, Woolworths, Standard Bank, Makro and FNB - were found in the Vindoux Street house, but Orr said he suspected police had planted his ID and the cards at the residence.
The Hawks also established Orr was talking on his cellphone near the Vindoux Street house at the time of the fire there. In addition, when they searched Orr’s home, they found instruments and equipment used in the manufacturing of drugs that were similar to the ones they discovered in Vindoux Street, an allegation Orr denied.
“The State has a very strong case against the accused and I believe it will result in a conviction in court. I don’t think the accused will stand trial. The police discovered the drugs plants by accident,” Colonel Abraham Jooste of the Hawks said in an affidavit opposing bail. “We are not dealing here with people who are opportunistic criminals, but who commit organised crime. The group is operating as an organised drug syndicate.”
However, Orr said in his affidavit: “The residence where I was found does not belong to me, nor do any of the chemicals which the State alleges I am involved with.
“I respectfully point out that I need to work in order to pay for the legal representatives of my choice. I also point out that I have various dependants. I believe there exists no evidence that I started a fire, obstructed the police, dealt in drugs or manufactured drugs.
“The high water mark is certain circumstantial facts that I was found in a residence where chemicals were found.
“I have yet to see any forensic report and cannot admit that the substances are even illegal. I deny any instruments found at my residence are used for the manufacture of drugs.”
Saturday Argus