INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

Glen Kleinsmith was a member of the Substance Drug Abuse task Team Pic: Solly Lottering

Circumstances surrounding a number of murders and a suspicious suicide and shooting in the city can all be linked to the underworld network operating in nightclubs and the drug trade, a probe by the Cape Times has found.

The deaths include those of a city official and gang leaders as well as that of a child of four years old.

During a series of interviews with various underworld figures, the Cape Times has been told the string of murders and the suicide of a city councillor are all linked to a group of criminals who feared losing control of illegal operations and who therefore ordered hits, in some cases making the planned killings look like random crimes or acts.

The murders and suicide – including four incidents previously not connected to underworld dealings – took place around Cape Town over a six-year period.

The allegations have surfaced while the focus is on the city’s notorious nightclub bouncer industry, which was quickly dominated by a new company, Specialised Protection Services (SPS), after underworld businessman Cyril Beeka’s murder last year.

About two weeks ago, SPS was effectively crippled when managers and employers were arrested for not being registered with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority.

The sources, who fear being murdered and have therefore declined to be named, have linked the following incidents:

l April 5, 2006: Gavin Myburgh, an Americans gang leader, was gunned down while sitting in a bakkie with a friend outside Access Park in Kenilworth. Seven men were later arrested.

Sources have told the Cape Times that Myburgh, linked to underworld businessmen, was gaining too much control in criminal operations, especially drug peddling, and was therefore “taken out”.

l May 21, 2007: Yuri “the Russian” Ulianitski was gunned down while driving in Milnerton. His daughter, Yulia, 4, was also killed in the attack. His best friend, Igor Russol, currently in custody and accused of extortion, previously told the Cape Times that Ulianitski’s control over underworld dealings in the city centre, including nightclubs, resulted in his murder.

No arrests were made.

l April 25, 2009: Glen Kleinsmith, 38, the chairman of the city’s substance abuse enforcement task team, nicknamed the Drugbusters, was found dead in his Bellville home. He allegedly committed suicide by strangling himself by using the cord of a cellphone charger tied to a cupboard handle.

At the time of his death, Kleinsmith had been probing various drug syndicates and operations, and the Cape Times was told he had been at a nightclub hours before he was found dead. Kleinsmith’s laptop had also been taken from his Bellville office.

A few days ago, mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said he did not believe Kleinsmith committed suicide, and felt his death could be linked to drug probes. “I understand police were never able to get enough evidence to charge anyone… There’s no way he could’ve ended his life.”

However, last week, police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said: “No foul play was suspected in connection with this suicide. The case is closed.”

l August 3, 2009: Rashaad “Charra” Abrahams, who owned popular nightclub @mospheer, was shot dead by a guard from a private security company when he and an accomplice apparently broke into a Tamboerskloof home.

His accomplice fled and last week Van Wyk confirmed this person had never been tracked down. A number of underworld sources told the Cape Times that Abrahams was lured to the home and set-up as other criminals wanted to run his clubs and take over illegal operations he was in charge of.

l March 21, 2011: Beeka was assassinated while being driven by Serbian fugitive Dobrosav Gavric in Bellville South.

Last month during Gavric’s bail application in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, the investigating officer, Paul Hendrikse, said Jerome Booysen, whom he identified as the leader of the Sexy Boys gang, was a suspect in Beeka’s murder. But arrests are yet to be made.

l February 7, 2012: Bruno Bronn, the owner of popular gay nightclub Bronx, was found murdered in his Green Point home.

His hands had been bound and there were marks on his neck.

Four arrests were made a few days later. Accused number one in the case is John Frederick Coetzee, 36, a former bouncer at Bronx and who was previously in a relationship with Bronn.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za - Cape Times