Not guilty pleas tendered by Modack and Co

Alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack, along with Zane Kilian, have been charged with the murder of Charl Kinnear, a decorated detective attached to the Anti-Gang Unit, who was assassinated outside his home in 2020. Picture: Independent Newspapers

Alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack, along with Zane Kilian, have been charged with the murder of Charl Kinnear, a decorated detective attached to the Anti-Gang Unit, who was assassinated outside his home in 2020. Picture: Independent Newspapers

Published Feb 1, 2024

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Cape Town - The not guilty tune continued to echo off the walls of the Western Cape High Court where alleged underworld boss Nafiz Modack and his 14 co-accused appeared for the commencement of their murder trial.

Wednesday marked day three of the mammoth trial which centres around the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective, Charl Kinnear, who was murdered in front of his home in Bishop Lavis in 2020.

Modack along with his co-accused are facing an array of charges including the murder of Kinnear, the grenade attack on his home, money laundering, racketeering and charges under the Prevention of Organised Crime (Poca) Act.

On Wednesday before proceedings commenced, the court heard that accused number six, Fagmeed Kelly, was involved in a minor motor vehicle collision on his return to Drakenstein Prison on Tuesday.

Accused number 8, Jacques Cronje, then informed the court that Kelly was indeed involved in an accident and has a neck brace from the accident after officers allegedly drove carelessly.

Judge Robert Henney ordered that the State gets a report from the medical team.

“The doctor needs to say he won’t be able to comprehend in court,” Judge Henney said.

The judge was then stopped by Modack who informed the court that he had been moved to Goodwood Prison, where cells are 1.2m x 1.5m, something he describes as inhumane.

Judge Henney let Modack know that his complaint was not part of the court proceedings.

By lunch time the accused had all pleaded not guilty on charges of money laundering, corruption, extortion, intimidation, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit murder and the attempted murder of top lawyer William Booth on April 9, 2020.

Modack and Zane Killian also pleaded not guilty to more than 3 000 pings, with the ex-rugby player remarking that he must be included in the Guinness World Book of Records for shooting that far, in the attempted murder of Andrè Naude.

The trial continues.

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Cape Argus