Two appear over Sea Point hotel manager's death

Two men have appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court over the murder of a Sea Point hotel manager two years ago. 

Sillico Zainauet Oliphant, 36, and Moegamat Faizel Abrahams, 38, were arrested on Friday after a Hawks probe implicated them in the murder of father-of-three Craig Mathieson, the SABC reported.

The 44-year-old Mathieson was shot and killed in November 2016. Hawks spokesperson Captain Philani Nkwalase said the case has been postponed to Tuesday for a formal bail application.

Mathieson, the night manager of Hotel 303 in Sea Point, which is owned by businessman Mark Lifman, was murdered inside the building. Nothing was stolen from him or from the hotel, leaving some fearing he was the target of a hit.

News24 reported that Mathieson's murder had rattled some underworld figures. The shooting happened an evening after the killing of attorney Noorudien Hassan, who was linked to high-profile gang cases.

Based on information from two sources, two men, suspected to be gangsters, had been at an eatery near Hotel 303 before the murder. They had become involved in an argument with the eatery's manager and Mathieson, who was there, had intervened.

The pair left but, according to one source, later returned to Hotel 303 as they knew Mathieson was based there.

According to the second source, one of the men managed to get a security gate opened for him and upon on exiting, placed an item to prevent the gate from closing completely.

The second man then made his way through the gate and into the hotel, where he shot Mathieson.