Francesca Villette
THE man killed in the shooting incident at a popular Cape Town CBD petrol station at the weekend had a pending murder case against him and was out on bail at the time of his death, it emerged in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Businessman David Forbes, 48, from Hout Bay, is facing a murder charge for allegedly shooting Moegamat Toufiq Joseph, 23, in the parking area of the Engen garage in Orange Street on Saturday afternoon.
The State did not oppose bail, prosecutor Dail Andrews said.
At Forbes’s bail hearing yesterday, investigating officer Benjamin Mphulayana told the court that police were also sampling blood found on one of four knives in Joseph’s car on the day he was murdered.
A bloodied jack knife found in Joseph’s car was being processed for DNA, Mphulayana said.
Mphulayana had taken statements from three witnesses at the scene.
“They told me that they heard Joseph and Forbes arguing, although they could not hear what the argument was about. One witness said they saw Forbes shoot Joseph through the window. He (Forbes) then opened the door and fired three more shots,” Mphulayana said.
Under cross-examination by Forbes’s lawyer, Peter Mihalik, Mphulayana admitted that he knew about Joseph’s murder case.
No further details about it emerged.
It would be the defence’s argument that Forbes had acted in self-defence, he said.
Mihalik said Forbes was a family man and was not a murderer. Forbes had a 25-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and a 5-year-son from a new marriage.
“He is not someone who goes to the mall and starts shooting people. There were knives, guns and blood. My client instructed people to call the police and waited for them to escort him,” said Mihalik.
Forbes yesterday also handed in his passport to the State. Mihalik denied that his client was a flight risk and would tamper with evidence in the case or speak with witnesses.
Ross McKernan, also representing Forbes, read out an affidavit which elaborated on his client’s personal circumstances and background.
Forbes was born in the UK in 1966 and moved to South Africa when he was one year old. He was a qualified plumber who went into the entertainment organising industry with his brother-in-law in 1988.
Outside court, members of Joseph’s family protested against Forbes being granted bail. Before an adjournment inside court, members of Joseph’s family chanted: “Shoot him. How would you like it if someone must kill your son?”
The case continues today.
l Meanwhile, the Ultra Music Festival, based in Miami in the US, has pointed out that Forbes was associated with the Ultra South Africa Festival, which is a separate entity.