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Another hit in Cape Town as motorbike assassin slays motorist with possible construction industry ties

Another hit in Cape Town as motorbike assassin slays motorist with possible construction industry ties
Caryn Dolley
By Caryn Dolley
4 Oct 2023
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A motorist has been murdered in Cape Town in what appears to be a hit. This comes a day after Police Minister Bheki Cele spoke out about crime and shootings in the Western Cape, saying 100 people had been killed in the province in a week.

Police in Cape Town are investigating a hit involving an assassin on a motorbike who targeted a man who was driving in his vehicle.

The incident happened around 8am on Wednesday 4 October, 2023 along a road in the suburb of Milnerton.

Western Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg confirmed the murder.

He said the targeted man was a foreigner.

Murderer on a motorbike


Sources with ties to policing provided Daily Maverick with the apparent identity of the murdered man, but his name was not officially confirmed by the time of publication and therefore will not be included here.

It is understood while the man has a South African identity number, he may be of Israeli origin.

“Milnerton police attended to the crime scene where they found the victim with gunshot wounds to his body,” Twigg said.

“According to a report, a motorcycle stopped next to the victim and fired several shots at him. The victim was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel.”

Twigg said the motive for the attack was not yet clear.

Smashed windscreen


Images apparently from the scene showed a black vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz G400, on its side with a smashed windscreen and blood spattered across it.

Footage also showed police and emergency vehicles, as well as an area cordoned off with tape.



Daily Maverick has established that, if the identity of the murdered man is indeed the one that sources have provided, he was involved in the construction, luxury vehicle and property industries.

Extortion in relation to the construction industry is a big problem in Cape Town.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Cape Town risks losing R60m in transport funding due to ‘unconscionable’ extortion

There have previously been murders in that arena.

100 killed in a week


The hit on Wednesday comes a day after Police Minister Bheki Cele publicly addressed the crime situation in the Western Cape.



Cele briefly referenced the arrests of suspected 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson who were detained on Friday 29 September, 2023 on various charges.

“Investigations into this case should also reveal and dismantle the organised crime syndicate in the province,” he said.

Cele also spoke about police successes, as well as problems officers were encountering.

“Since April to the end of September, targeted police operations have resulted in the seizure of drugs, vehicles, firearms and counterfeit goods with a combined value of over R140-million.

“R31-million of the seizures were from operations aimed at removing drugs in communities,” he said.

“So, while police are making inroads in the fight against crime in this province, it is deeply disturbing and unacceptable that over 100 people were killed in the Western Cape alone in a week.”

Several police officers have recently also been murdered in Cape Town.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Police increase presence in Gugulethu after two officers slain in weekend of bloodshed

Referring to the violence, Cele said: “The shootings have been ruthless, killing women and children, professionals, breadwinners and even one of our own, Warrant Officer Lindela Mraqisa was not spared.”

Mraqisa, who had served as a close protector of deputy police minister Cassel Mathale, was among five people killed during a mass shooting in Gugulethu, in Cape Town, at the weekend.

The body of a murdered policewoman was also found in Mfuleni this past Sunday.

Motorbike modus operandi


In terms of Wednesday’s hit, there have previously been killings in which assassins have used motorbikes.

For example, in September 2020, Stephan Venter, whose name is known in organised crime circles relating to drugs, was assassinated outside a restaurant in Gordon’s Bay about 50km from Cape Town’s city centre — a gunman who arrived on a motorbike had shot him.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Making sense of Cape Town’s confusing rush of underworld cases

Another reverberating hit involving a motorbike played out in Cape Town in 2011 when organised crime kingpin Cyril Beeka was assassinated in the suburb of Belhar.

In that incident, it was suspected that two men on a motorbike had ambushed Beeka, who was being driven by an associate who later turned out to be Serbian assassin Dobrosav Gavric. DM

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