The lives of witnesses will be in danger if alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield is released from custody, and if he and his wife, Nicole Johnson, are freed on bail, there is also a possibility they could break the conditions relating to that.

This testimony was heard in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Monday, when the couple’s bail application, along with those of two co-accused, Denver Booysen and Johannes Abrahams, was denied. A third co-accused, Jose Brandt, also known as Makop, did not apply for bail.

Kept in custody

All five will remain behind bars until their next court appearance, set for 5 February. 

Stanfield and Johnson have been detained for a month since their arrests at their home in Cape Town on 29 September.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Alleged 28s boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife arrested in Cape Town crackdown following Ayepyep extortion spat 

The five face charges including motor vehicle theft, assault, attempted murder, robbery and fraud.

Johnson, though, has not been charged with a violent crime and, according to police, faces “dishonesty offences”.

Both she and Stanfield have denied the accusations against them.

Magistrate Alida Theart said on Monday Stanfield in effect misled the court in that he said he was a business owner but did not provide any documents or evidence to back that up.

She said it was clear that Stanfield was involved in violence.

‘Clear motive to kill’

An affidavit by the investigating officer, Lieutenant Colonel Christiaan van Renen, was previously read out in court. In it, details emerged of how Stanfield allegedly told associates to find the complainant in a case against him because he wanted to shoot the man.

Read more in Daily Maverick: ‘I want to empty a gun in his head’ – chilling affidavit about alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield’s ‘plans’

During Monday’s proceedings, Theart referred to that allegation and said: “[Stanfield] has a clear motive to kill the complaint. He even went as far as saying he wants to empty a 16-shooter in his head.”

A “16-shooter” is a 9mm handgun that can fire 16 rounds.

Theart said the court was mindful that the accused were viewed as operating together as “a gang”.

Stanfield has been accused of heading the gang conglomerate The Firm, which has a strong 28s gangster following.

Read more in Daily Maverick: The Firm: Gang with ‘deep drug roots’ surfaces in 28s accused Ralph Stanfield’s case

Theart said Johnson had been dishonest in her affidavit and had provided false information at the time of her arrest.

The court previously heard that, together with Stanfield, Johnson co-owned the MBT garage in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town.

Petrol price issues

In an affidavit, Johnson claimed that she was “the only person in the business that can change the price of the fuel at the fuel pumps”. 

However, the police found the petrol price at MBT had been changed while Johnson was in custody, suggesting she had lied.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Petrol price proves ‘lies’ told in the case involving alleged gangster Ralph Stanfield and wife Nicole Johnson

During Monday’s court proceedings, Theart said it appeared that the owners of the petrol station, Stanfield and Johnson, had tried to conceal certain information from police.

Johnson’s lawyer and her mother, Barbara, the court heard, were now running the business.

In a separate matter, Stanfield and Johnson were central to a saga involving an accusation of intimidation linked to the Ayepyep Lifestyle Lounge, a venue in Cape Town’s city centre.

Daily Maverick reported that Barbara Johnson owned half of that business.

Meanwhile, during Monday’s court proceedings, Theart said the State had a prima facie case against the five accused. 

Gun licence case and Glomix

Stanfield and Johnson also face charges in another court case, based on allegations that three (now former) police officers linked to the Central Firearm Registry — Priscilla Mangyani, Billy April and Mary Cartwright — issued gun licences to Stanfield and others who had no legal right to them.

Earlier this year, Daily Maverick reported that Stanfield’s name had cropped up in an investigation relating to Malusi Booi, who in March was fired from the post of mayoral committee member for human settlements after his City of Cape Town office was raided during a fraud and corruption investigation.

Read more in Daily Maverick: SAPS investigating allegations Cape Town Mayco member Malusi Booi ‘took cash from gangsters’

Daily Maverick also reported that the City of Cape Town was doing business with Glomix House Brokers, of which Johnson is the director.

Glomix is building 204 houses in the Cape Town suburb of Valhalla Park in a project expected to be completed next year. DM