Francesca Villette
THE man charged with murdering 23-year-old Moegamat Toufiq Joseph at a popular petrol station in Cape Town’s CBD has been in trouble with the law before, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court heard yesterday.
David Forbes, 48, from Hout Bay, is facing a murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of Joseph in the parking area of the Engen garage in Orange Street on Saturday afternoon.
Forbes’s lawyer, Ross McKennan, told the court that Forbes had a criminal record.
In 1996, Forbes paid an admission of guilt fine for common assault. McKennan said his client currently had no pending cases or warrants for his arrest.
Forbes spent the night at the Cape Town Central police station as detectives still needed to photograph a wound on his right arm and draw blood samples, which would be crucial evidence in the defence’s case, McKennan said. “This cannot be done if my client is at a maximum detention facility,” he said.
Forbes wore a name-branded T-shirt underneath a long-sleeve shirt that covered tattoos on his arms – which were visible on Saturday thanks to the vest he was wearing while waiting for police to arrive following the shooting.
He sat upright in the dock during proceedings, keeping his eyes locked on the magistrate. McKennan told the court that his client intended to apply for bail.
“We have played open cards with the court. I have a firm belief that my client is entitled to bail and that he will receive it. There is no reason not to grant him bail,” McKennan said.
Police had taken Forbes’s fingerprints at the scene, but because it had been the weekend the fingerprints had not yet been processed.
McKennan said it was important that the court wait for that process to be completed.
The case was due to continue today.
It has emerged that the sale of tickets for the globally celebrated Ultra South Africa in Cape Town next month may have been central to the incident on Saturday.
The festival also has a leg in Johannesburg.
Joseph’s friend, who spoke to the Cape Times on condition of anonymity on Sunday as he feared for his life, confirmed that Joseph had sold festival tickets, but said he had done so legally.
He said he was not sure whether Joseph had worked for festival organisers or where he had got the tickets.
Kate Thompson-Duwe, a spokeswoman for the festival, confirmed that Forbes was a production consultant for the event.
In an SMS yesterday, she told the Cape Times that the event would not hire anyone in Forbes’s place as the planning had been completed.
She declined to comment further.