A trial date has finally been set three years after the assassination of Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear on 20 September 2020. The main accused, alleged underworld figure Nafiz Modack, his co-accused, debt collector Zane Kilian, and 13 others will plead not guilty to an array of offences. The court was informed that at this stage no plea or sentence agreement will be entered into with the State.

This was revealed during the pre-trial conference held on Friday, 13 October before Judge Nathan Erasmus in the Western Cape Division of the High Court. Judge Erasmus set 29 January 2024 as the provisional trial date for the case to begin.

The only issues that need to be addressed before the trial commences are Modack’s and six others’ legal representation and a fresh bail application by Kilian, which is based on new facts.

Modack, who is not officially represented by an attorney in the case, filed a letter in court stating that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) had forbidden him from dealing with any of his colleagues who want to fund his legal bills.

SW van der Merwe, his lawyer, told the court that because of the DCS constraints, he had not received any instructions from his client and was unable to come on record as Modack’s attorney.

Judge Erasmus informed Modack and his lawyer the court would require the DCS to allow those funding his legal and trial bills to see him in jail. 

According to the court, Kilian’s fresh bail application is set for 27-30 November. Magistrate Nonkosi Saba refused Kilian’s first bail application in the Bellville Regional Court back in March 2021. Kilian appealed against this decision and on 24 May, Western Cape High Court Judge Ashley Binns-Ward dismissed the appeal application.  

Charges

The murder of Kinnear, outside his Bishop Lavis home in Cape Town, exposed layers of distrust in the SA Police Service.

It is the State’s contention that Modack’s reign of terror ran from December 2017 until January 2021, and he faces more than 3,100 charges including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, abduction, money laundering, fraud, racketeering, undermining the administration of justice, public violence, violation of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca) and unlawful interception of communications.

The murder charges against Modack include that of Kinnear and Nicolaas Heerschap (74), who was slain in front of his family’s Melkbosstrand house on 9 July 2019. His son, former Hawks Warrant Officer Nico Heerschap (48), appeared to be the intended target. 

Modack is also the main alleged accused in the murder attempt on the lawyer William Booth.  

Read more in Daily Maverick: Plea deal links alleged gangster Nafiz Modack to hits on Cape Town figures

Modack’s co-accused in the indictment are Kilian, Ziyaad Poole, Moegamat Toufeeq Brown, Riyaat Gesant, Fagmeed Kelly, Mario Petersen (all alleged Terrible West Siders gang members), Jacques Cronjé, Petrus Visser, alleged Junky Funky Kids gang member Janick Adonis, Amaal Jantjies, former Anti-Gang Unit Sergeant Ashley Tabisher, Yaaseen Modack, Mogamat Adiel Mukadam and Ricardo Anthony Morgan.

Modack, Morgan, Kelly, Cronje, Tabisher and Adonis will return to court on 9 November to finalise their legal representatives.

Modack is also an accused along with his mother, Ruwaida, his brother Yaseen and six others in a massive tax fraud case involving more than R46-million.

Read in Daily Maverick: Inside Nafiz Modack’s multimillion-rand VAT fraud case – a family affair with his mother and brother 

Kinnear’s widow, Nicolette, said she was not surprised that the accused indicated they would plead not guilty or enter any plea and punishment bargains with the State following the court procedures.

“It was something that I expected,” she said. DM