Cape Town -
He doesn’t smoke, has no bank account and lived in his mother’s backyard.
There was nothing flashy, nor opulent about his lifestyle, and he sold fish to earn a living.
This was the wholesome picture painted in the Western Cape High Court this week of George “Geweld” (Violence) Thomas, a far cry from the feared 28s ganglord and murderer the State wants jailed for life.
Details about his apparent clean-cut and humble lifestyle surfaced this week when Thomas’s advocate, Janos Mihalik, replied to the State’s contention that Thomas should spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Another name familiar in gang circles also cropped up during proceedings - that of former 28s gang leader Ernie “Lastig” Solomon, who was referred to as a gang boss others wanted to emulate.
Thomas, 48, was convicted of seven murders and an array of other charges about two weeks ago.
He was accused of carrying out killings and ordering a number of assassinations from behind bars in the country’s biggest gang trial, which saw only one of 18 accused acquitted of all crimes.
The trial has been running for more than four years, and Thomas and those convicted along with him are next week expected to hear how long they will spend in jail.
Sentencing procedures continued this week, with State prosecutor advocate Willie Viljoen arguing that Thomas and those sharing the dock with him should be given life sentences.
He said he was keeping youngsters, who looked up to gangsters who drove smart cars, and wore smart clothing and jewellery, in mind.
Viljoen said this wealth which gangsters flaunted did not come from selling fish, which Mihalik said Thomas did to make money, but from crime.
He referred to a State witness, jailed for other crimes, who testified that he had seen Solomon, a gang leader, with armed bodyguards.
“He thought that is very ‘smart’, he also wants to be like that, but he realised the only way to get there was to get involved in crime,” Viljoen said.
During her judgment, Judge Chantel Fortuin said Thomas had himself testified previously that he knew Solomon as a leader of the 28s, and as the “the man behind the mountains”, because Solomon lived in Hawston.
Responding this week to the State’s argument, Mihalik said that while Solomon’s lifestyle may have been envied, Thomas had not lived a life anyone would have felt the same about.
“He lives in a Wendy house with his wife behind his mother’s house. He has no bank account,” Mihalik said.
However, during court proceedings previously, it emerged that the Wendy house was fitted with cameras on the outside so that those inside could see anyone approaching.
On the types of crimes linked to Thomas, Mihalik also said no State witnesses had testified to him being involved in drug smuggling.
“He doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t use drugs, not even one dagga zol,” he said. About 20 people were murdered between 2006 and 2010, mainly in Bishop Lavis, regarded as Thomas’s stronghold.
Saturday Argus