Tensions in Cape Town’s underworld seem to be flaring up yet again, with a shootout at a pub in the early hours of Thursday morning leaving an apparent gunman dead and a bouncer wounded.

It’s the second shooting at a Cape Town venue in less than three months.

At the end of October, Daily Maverick reported that an early morning shootout at the Grand Africa Café & Beach in Granger Bay left a gunman dead and a security guard wounded.

That venue previously featured in an extortion case where it was alleged a group of men had tried to force the venue to pay for their so-called security services. 

Patrons face potential dangers 

This was linked to a broader underworld battle, as alleged by the State in certain court cases, for control of security at some Cape Town venues and involving gangs including the 27s and Sexy Boys.

These broader security battles have for years simmered away, sometimes boiling over in the form of shootings or stabbings in the city. 

Also see: The Enforcers – Inside Cape Town’s Deadly Nightclub Battles

A few years ago, there was a spate of shootings in or near nightclubs and eateries in Cape Town. 

These incidents highlight the dangers patrons face when gangsters target their rivals at nightclubs and bars.

Underworld suspicions 

Daily Maverick understands the latest shooting at Buckley’s in the Cape Town suburb of Bellville may be linked to figures suspected of violent acts relating to private security.

A photograph taken at the scene of the shooting appears to show an individual who has previously faced criminal charges in an organised crime case and who was involved in nightclub security in Cape Town. 

Daily Maverick understands the shooting happened when a man approached Buckley’s and shot a bouncer. The gunman was then fatally shot by another man who is also linked to the private security industry.

It is understood the man who approached the venue and was subsequently killed was named Granville King. 

Bouncer shot

Sources with knowledge of underworld ructions suspect King was a gangster linked to the 27s gang and to a towing company. He was reportedly targeting another member, or members, of a rival gang. 

Daily Maverick has previously reported that elements of organised crime are embedded in the towing industry.

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A security company, CDF Civil Defence Force, posted on Facebook that it received a call about the shooting at Buckley’s at 2.36am last Thursday and that officers arrived on the scene four minutes later.

The Facebook post said an officer “found a bouncer at the door who had been shot”, while “the second victim was lying near a local restaurant and was already deceased”.

A white Toyota bakkie with two occupants may have been involved in the incident.

Anti-Gang Unit investigation

The Facebook page cover image of Buckley’s, a venue in Cape Town where a bouncer was shot and near where another man was killed in the shootout, said: “A little party never killed nobody.” (Photo: Facebook)

A man who answered Buckley’s landline on Monday told Daily Maverick that the manager had given him permission only to confirm the incident and that the Anti-Gang Unit had taken over the investigation. This suggests the shooting was linked to gangsterism.

On Monday, a post on the venue’s Facebook page did not directly mention the shooting but said that “due to unforseen [sic] circumstances there we [sic] no DJs at Buckley’s this past weekend”. 

Buckley’s Facebook page’s cover image — which, given the shooting, could be viewed as inappropriate — reads: “A little party never killed nobody.”

Western Cape police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk on Monday confirmed the shooting and said an inquest and attempted murder case had been opened.

No arrests

“A 38-year-old male was shot and fatally wounded, and another adult male 44 years old was also shot and injured. 

“He was taken to a medical facility for treatment,” Van Wyk said.

The case, he added, was transferred to the Anti-Gang Unit for further investigation.

No arrests have been made.

Van Wyk urged anyone with information on the shooting to contact the investigating officer Lt-Col Dirkie van Reenen on 071 673 1480 or CrimeStop on 08600 10111.

Gangsters and nightclub security battles

Bellville, where the shootout happened, is in Cape Town’s northern suburbs. As far as gangsterism goes, it’s considered an area where the 27s and Sexy Boys gangs are dominant.

The names of those two gangs have previously cropped up during court cases in Cape Town.

This, in turn, links to individuals including Nafiz Modack, who is accused of several violent crimes, as well as a group who the State has previously claimed are Modack’s rivals, namely Mark Lifman, Jerome “Donkie” Booysen (once identified in a court case as head of the Sexy Boys gang) and Andre Naude, who are also suspects in other criminal cases.

All their names have been linked to nightclub security operations in Cape Town.

Lifman, Booysen and Naude became involved in this arena after the March 2011 murder of rumoured ANC-aligned state operative and underworld kingpin Cyril Beeka who Modack seemed to have been close to.

Lifman and Naude previously faced charges relating to running a private security company without being registered with the necessary regulatory authority.

They were acquitted in 2015, claiming that the State had targeted them for ulterior reasons.

‘Threatening club patrons’

Lifman, Naude and Booysen are now accused, along with several others, in a murder case that also involves allegations they were involved in furthering the criminal activities of the 27s gang.

The case, set to proceed later this year, focuses on nightclub activities and how patrons are at risk due to organised crime.

A section of an indictment in the case says: “The accused and diverse other persons numbering 100 persons or thereabouts, did unlawfully assemble with common intent to forcibly disturb the public peace or security or to invade the rights of other persons and, the said accused acting in concert, did then unlawfully and intentionally descend on these clubs and their surrounds in order to intimidate and threaten the patrons and club personnel at these clubs.”

Meanwhile, a Hawks officer previously stated in an affidavit that Modack, with a group of men including Jerome Booysen’s brother, Colin, began making their presence felt in the nightclub security arena in March 2017, when trying to push Lifman and his associates out of business. 

Cop assassination 

There were widespread suspicions at the time that, when the apparent nightclub security takeover went ahead, Modack may have had the backing of the Sexy Boys gang, while the older grouping, including Lifman and Jerome Booysen, may have had the backing of the 27s gang (a suspicion linked to charges they currently face).

Modack has since been charged in connection with several crimes including the September 2020 assassination of Lt-Col Charl Kinnear who had been investigating Modack.

Kinnear had also been investigating how fellow police officers were allegedly supplying firearm licences to suspects who should not have had access to paperwork enabling them to get hold of guns.

Modack was among a group of suspects arrested in that case. DM

Caryn Dolley has spent years tracing the footprints of crime/drug kingpins from across the world. In her latest book, Clash of the Cartels, Dolley provides unprecedented insight into how specific drug cartels and syndicates have operated via South Africa, becoming embroiled in deadly violence in the country and bolstering local criminal networks. Available now from the Daily Maverick Shop.