An attorney who reportedly parked outside the home of the prosecutor in the murder trial of the late Anti-Gang Unit officer Charl Kinnear, accompanied by an unidentified male, sped away when she was spotted and was later apprehended by police.

The prosecutor was escorted to his home in Panorama by two protection officers on Friday, 1 December when he spotted the attorney in a car about 30 metres from his home. When he asked his driver to reverse up to her car, she sped away.

The 44-year-old attorney was apprehended on Voortrekker Road in Parow around 4.50pm. She was allegedly in possession of cocaine.

The attorney appeared in the Bellville Magistrates’ Court on Monday, but the case was provisionally withdrawn pending the results of forensic tests on the powder found in her possession. The case against her of intimidation has been returned to the investigating officer.

The identity of the attorney cannot be revealed as she has not been charged. Daily Maverick is not using the name of the prosecutor due to fears for his safety.

The attorney’s arrest came a day after she sat in the public gallery of the Western Cape High Court, listening to murder accused Zane Kilian being questioned about his alleged role in the assassination of Kinnear and the attempted assassination of Cape Town lawyer William Booth. The attorney sat alongside Kilian’s father, Hein, in the gallery.

Read more in Daily Maverick: ‘My life is in danger,’ claims Zane Kilian as he pleads for bail in murder case

Kilian and alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack are the main accused in the killing of Kinnear on 18 September 2020. They have also been charged with attempting to murder criminal lawyer William Booth on 9 April 2020.

‘Guns ready’

On Monday, the prosecutor spoke to Daily Maverick about the events that unfolded near his home on Friday.

“When we drove past the car, I saw a woman and an unknown male in the car. I recognised her as the person who last week sat next to Zane Kilian’s father in the gallery of the Western Cape High Court. I told the protection officer to reverse back and get their guns ready.

“As we reversed, the car sped off. While pursuing the car we radioed for police support. When we got to Voortrekker Road in Parow, I saw a police vehicle and requested them for help. The car stopped near the Post Office in Voortrekker Road and the unknown male fled on foot.

“We could see the male was running as if he was holding something in his tracksuit pants. Members of the Hawks team investigating the murder of Kinnear arrived at the scene and arrested the attorney,” he said.

The prosecutor said that a week before Kilian’s bail hearing, an unknown male in a car had stopped at his house and waved a 9mm pistol at the security camera.

This is not the first time that people investigating the murder of Kinnear and the attempted murder of Booth have been threatened.

During the heads of argument in Kilian’s first bail application on 11 March 2021 in the Bellville Regional Court, one of the Hawks investigating officers, Captain Pieter Joubert, said that the second investigating officer, Captain Edward du Plessis, had received a threatening phone call and was told there was a R1-million hit out on him.

Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale confirmed that the person who allegedly made the threatening call, Petrus Hermanus Visser (30), appeared in the Bellville Magistrates’ Court on an intimidation charge and was released on R20,000 bail.

Links to Kinnear case

The arrested attorney is no stranger to the Kinnear case. Her name also cropped up in the failed bail application of Amaal Jantjies in the Parow Regional Court in March 2021. Jantjies has been charged with plotting to kill Kinnear.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Bail denied: Kinnear murder suspect Amaal Jantjies accused of ‘arranging’ five hits on top cop

During Jantjies’ unsuccessful bail bid, investigating officer, Warrant Officer Trevor Shaw, told in his affidavit of an incident on 17 October 2019 where members of the Anti-Gang Unit had searched a house in Delft and seized a Lorcin .380 pistol.

Following the seizure of the firearm, an interview was conducted with Beyondstin “Problems” Joseph at Goodwood Correctional Facility. According to Shaw’s affidavit, Joseph had been summoned by a person known only as Morne on 9 October 2019. He allegedly met two women driving a white BMW who were with Morne. He recalled their names as Amaal and that of the attorney.

“He was promised by Amaal and the attorney that they would represent him in court. He further mentioned that when he appeared on the charge of possession of an unlicensed firearm, he was represented by the attorney for the first time and never again,” his affidavit reads.

Risks taken seriously

Outlining the events that unfolded on 1 December, police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said that Parow police were conducting patrols on Friday at around 4.30pm when they received a request for assistance from their colleagues as they were in pursuit of a car.

When the SAPS arrived at Voortrekker Road, he said, they met up with their colleagues and transported an unknown woman from the scene to the Parow police station. Police searched the woman and confiscated a quantity of what appeared to be cocaine.

According to Eric Ntabazalila, a spokesperson for the Western Cape NPA, the case was not enrolled and had been returned to the investigating officer for further investigation.

“We take any intimidation and security risk to our prosecutors seriously and have measures in place to mitigate such, but are not at liberty to discuss that in the media for obvious reasons,” he said. DM