{"id":8455,"date":"2019-03-07T00:15:18","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T00:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amabhungane.org\/?post_type=stories&p=8455"},"modified":"2024-09-21T10:06:36","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T10:06:36","slug":"saps-wars-part-2-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-czech-sings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/saps-wars-part-2-it-aint-over-till-the-fat-czech-sings\/","title":{"rendered":"SAPS Wars Part 2: It ain’t over till the fat Czech sings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Part 1<\/a> <\/em>outlined a spat between Western Cape cops and how it overlays divisions in the provincial underworld. In Part 2, claims by Czech criminal Radovan Krejcir lift this murky mix onto a national stage \u2013 where high-level political overtones resonate with the Cape Town scene.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Krejcir method<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Radovan Krejcir made good use of his experience when he landed in Johannesburg as a fugitive from Czech justice in 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his homeland he had profited from navigating the space between crooked politicians, gangsters, cops and spooks \u2013 and in South Africa he took up where he left off, only with a local cast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He got to know bouncer boss and intelligence operative Cyril Beeka and controversial Western Cape businessman Mark Lifman, as well as an assortment of crime intelligence officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before he ran out of road, Krejcir even fathered a child with former ANC and state intelligence operative Russel Christopher\u2019s estranged daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013 Krejcir was arrested by Nkosana \u201cKiller\u201d Ximba, right-hand man to Richard Mdluli, the hugely influential former crime intelligence boss and Jacob Zuma ally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krejcir claims in an affidavit<\/a> he signed last July at Leeuwkop prison, where he is serving a sentence for attempted murder and kidnapping, that Beeka introduced him to Duduzane Zuma, the then-president\u2019s son, in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr Beeka asked me to keep Mr Duduzani [sic] Zuma busy so that the Gupta family and Sahara which is one of the Gupta family company [sic] cannot get to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krejcir alleges that at some point Duduzane promised to assist him with obtaining asylum in South Africa and Krejcir agreed to pay him R5-million for the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krejcir claims he drove to Nkandla around February 2011 and handed over R2.5-million in cash to Duduzane as a deposit, but that no help was forthcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part 1 explained<\/a> that Beeka was murdered in March 2011 and how this impacted on nightclub security operations in Cape Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Beeka\u2019s murder, Krejcir states, his friendship with Duduzane deteriorated \u201cbecause Mr Beeka, our common friend, was no longer there to keep the momentum going\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krejcir claims Ximba fabricated evidence that led to his arrest and conviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think this was as a result of a broken relationship between me and Mr Duduzani Zuma, the fact that I demanded my 2.5 million back from him. The other factor that contributed to my arrest is that I refused to be cash cow for Mr Ximba to pay him money like other business people did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Press<\/em>, which first broke the story of Krejcir\u2019s affidavit<\/a>, approached both Duduzane Zuma and Ximba for comment but received no reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duduzane Zuma\u2019s laywer, Rudi Krause, told amaBhungane that his client was abroad and that he was waiting to take instruction from him before responding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A WhatsApp, SMS and email sent to a cellphone number and address apparently belonging to Ximba went unanswered. Ximba is now Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina’s chief of security. A staffer who knows Ximba conveyed amaBhungane\u2019s query to him and later said it was unlikely he would respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krejcir, Beeka, Lifman and Modack<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

It should be recalled that Krejcir got an entr\u00e9e into the Johannesburg underworld not long after his arrival in South Africa \u2013 and that Beeka was soon in the thick of Krejcir\u2019s business and personal dealings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifman was also allegedly part of this mix because, according to police evidence, he was part of a group that played cards with Krejcir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Krejcir\u2019s former henchmen, Milosh Potiska, claimed that Krejcir fell out with Beeka, then allegedly made a brief alliance with Lifman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an affidavit handed in at a Krejcir bail hearing, Potiska said Krejcir attended Beeka\u2019s 49th birthday party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKrejcir and Beeka then had a fight at Beeka’s birthday party. Beeka beat up Krejcir, and as a result Krejcir went to hospital\u2026 He had been publicly humiliated and wanted revenge. This is the way Krejcir is, if he gets humiliated, he wants to kill that person.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to other reports the fight started when Krejcir hit someone who he thought was chatting up his mistress. Beeka intervened and slapped Krejcir, who fell and cut himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is understood the person Beeka was protecting was none other than Nafiz Modack, who at that time was Beeka\u2019s young prot\u00e9g\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(In Part 1<\/a> we explained how the Western Cape\u2019s underworld is currently split into two main groups, with one allegedly headed by Modack and backed by suspected gang member Colin Booysen. Police say this group is facing off against the second group, allegedly headed by Colin\u2019s brother, Jerome \u201cDonkie\u201d Booysen, as well as Jerome\u2019s associate, Lifman.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potiska stated: \u201cAfter Beeka was killed, I flew to Cape Town with Krejcir and he met with Lifman and [Jerome] Booysen\u2026 Krejcir in my opinion ‘persuaded’ Lifman to kill Beeka, to open Cape Town up for Krejcir and Lifman to control all the night clubs and drugs in Cape Town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs part of this new ‘partnership’, Krejcir said he would ‘invest’ in some property project of Lifman and this was agreed. However, Krejcir did not invest because he had no money, and then there was bad blood between Krejcir and Lifman. After this meeting, Krejcir said ‘we must get rid of this motherfucker, or we’ll have a big problem’.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifman\u2019s attorney, William Booth, told amaBhungane: \u201cMr Lifman is not in any way involved with Mr Beeka’s death – we reject the truthfulness of any one who says he is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifman has not been charged for Beeka\u2019s murder and, as mentioned in Part 1, Jerome Booysen was in 2012 named a suspect in the killing, but nothing ever came of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Beeka\u2019s assassination, things didn\u2019t work out for Krejcir the way he had, according to Potiska\u2019s affidavit, planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beeka\u2019s murder galvanised investigations into Krejcir\u2019s criminal activities and just two days after the killing, a police task force raided his Bedfordview mansion, purportedly finding a hit list that included Beeka\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Krejcir had been tipped off and was not there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually in November 2013, the cop \u201cKiller\u201d Ximba, Mdluli\u2019s right-hand man, struck and something stuck. Krejcir was convicted for a kidnapping and attempted murder unrelated to Beeka\u2019s murder, for which no-one has been charged to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation into Beeka\u2019s murder had hit a wall already a month before Krejcir\u2019s arrest, when a key witness, Leon Davids, was gunned down in Cape Town after being lured out of witness protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realignment \u2013 Vearey & Jacobs, Mbotho & Tiyo<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Then, as now, the upheavals in the underworld took place against a backdrop of upheavals in the police, much of it seemingly driven by the power struggle around Zuma and access to the secrets and the secret funds of crime intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Part 1 we showed how<\/a> senior police officers Peter Jacobs and Jeremy Vearey, both ex-uMkhonto weSizwe operatives, seemed to fall foul of that power struggle when, in June 2016, they were for the time being side-lined in favour of two other officers, Major General Mzwandile Tiyo and Major General Patrick Mbotho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the brief tenure of acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, Tiyo replaced Jacobs as Western Cape head of crime intelligence and Mbotho replaced Vearey as the provincial head of detectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the moves against Vearey and Jacobs had significant antecedents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 2011, then national commissioner Bheki Cele was suspended. This was at least partly because of his perceived alignment against Mdluli, the Zuma-supporting crime intelligence boss \u2013 although the public protector\u2019s report on the SAPS leasing scandal provided the public justification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, Cele\u2019s ally, KwaZulu-Natal Hawks commander Johan Booysen, was also suspended. This was based on a sensational Sunday Times<\/em> report alleging that the Cato Manor serious and violent crime unit, which fell under Booysen, operated as a hit squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Booysen was replaced by Mbotho, who was promoted to become Western Cape detective head when Veary was sidelined in 2016. Meanwhile Tiyo, who replaced Jacobs that same year, was engaged in battles of his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013 Tiyo, then acting provincial head of crime intelligence in the Western Cape, began monitoring the communications of the provincial commissioner, Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation resulted in corruption charges against Lamoer \u2013 he and other senior Western Cape cops had received gratification from a local businessman, Saliem Dawjee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crime intelligence clashes<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Daily Maverick <\/em>journalist Marianne Thamm has reported suggestions that Lamoer had been investigating elements in crime intelligence, which in turn resulted in him being investigated and caught out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also Tiyo\u2019s monitoring of Lamoer\u2019s communications that led crime intelligence to intercept a call during which then national police commissioner Riah Phiyega tipped off Lamoer about the investigation into him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Phiyega link ties back into the Jacobs and Vearey 2016 transfer saga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an affidavit challenging his transfer, Jacobs said he and Vearey were \u201cwrongly perceived\u201d to be \u201cPhiyega’s people\u201d and were victims of a purge of those regarded as aligned to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phiyega was suspended in 2015 following negative findings by the Farlam commission of inquiry into the Marikana massacre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA false perception\u2026 arose because of our regular close cooperation with the suspended National Commissioner during our\u2026 firearm investigation,\u201d Jacobs said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the high-level work he and Vearey previously carried out also brought them into conflict with Khombinkosi Jula, the man who replaced Lamoer as Western Cape police commissioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen [Vearey] and I were tasked to develop an\u2026 approach to the inter-Provincial Taxi Violence\u2026 the assessment also covered the period during which Lieutenant General Jula was the Deputy Provincial Commissioner of the KZN Province…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur enquiry into what had been done to address the taxi violence indicated a serious lack of operational coordination and a basic lack of operational leadership. [Jula] was compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jula, in turn, criticised the quality of Jacobs\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her response to Jacobs\u2019 affidavit, the deputy national commissioner of human resources management, Lieutenant General Bonang Mgwenya, said Jula had previously expressed the view that Jacobs was not suited to retain the position of provincial crime intelligence head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe essential point made to me by the Provincial Commissioner was that he was not getting crime intelligence products that were adequate and sufficiently detailed to enable him to discharge his crime fighting function,\u201d she said in an affidavit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Part 1, we touched on Kinnear\u2019s complaint, lodged last December, which effectively accused a group of Western Cape officers \u2013 the \u201cTiyo group\u201d \u2013 of misusing state resources to personally attack and work against Kinnear, Vearey, Jacobs and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part 1 also outlined how, after Zuma\u2019s ousting, Jacobs was promoted to head crime intelligence nationally and Vearey was reinstated as Western Cape detective head in a permanent capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the war among cops and gangsters has seemingly intensified since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one side \u2013 claims<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Kinnear\u2019s formal complaint paints a picture of a deeply fragmented police service embedded with suspected criminals and officers who seem to be running interference and counter-investigations on outsiders\u2019 behalves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sparring turns around Kinnear\u2019s investigation of an extortion charge against Modack, the Beeka understudy who is essentially accused of muscling in on protection rackets being forced on Cape club owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modack and his co-accused were arrested in December 2017 and released in February last year following a lengthy bail application. They are expected to go on trial in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Suspected underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinnear charges that the Tiyo group\u2019s counter-investigations are aimed at trying to pin something on him and, most notably, the officer he reports to, Vearey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crux of Kinnear\u2019s complaint is that four of the six officers he singled out allegedly approached drug dealers and gangsters that he and his colleagues had investigated in the Cape Town suburb of Mitchells Plain a decade or more ago \u201cand requested that they make statements and lay charges against us for any type of wrongdoing in order to have us arrested and subsequently discharged from the South African Police Service\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the Sunday Times<\/em> this week reported<\/a> that Vearey was under investigation for crimes including torture, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said counter-intelligence officers were investigating Vearey and the Mitchells Plain station commander for trying to frame two men for the 2009 murder of an anti-drug activist. Vearey and the station commander declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo subsequently told Independent Online<\/em> there was no investigation against Vearey<\/a>, but rather an analysis of an old case. Kinnear\u2019s complaint identified a police captain, Alfred Barker, as allegedly being aligned to Modack and working with five other cops in the Tiyo group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part 1 revealed that Kinnear had accused Barker, who declined to comment to amaBhungane, of arresting Lifman irregularly in February last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinnear also alleged that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n