Charl Kinnear hit — Zane Kilian slams credibility of Bradley Goldblatt evidence

Zane Kilian (front second right) sits next to Nafiz Modack (front left) in the dock at the Western Cape High Court. (Photo: Daily Maverick)

By Vincent Cruywagen

1 Dec 2023

In his latest bail bid, Zane Kilian's evidence has revealed a system used in a gang war, with damning claims from Goldblatt that Kilian had requested 1,000 pings and asked him to delete his details from LAD and MarisIT after the assassination of Lt Col Charl Kinnear.

This was one of the key points raised in Kilian’s two-day witness testimony and two-day cross-examination in the Western Cape high court, which began on Monday, 27 November and was postponed on Thursday 30 November. This is part of his latest bail bid being heard before Judge Mark Sher.

I Track Solutions would purchase a bundle of location-based services (pings) or tracking of cell phones and resell them to its customers, of which Kilian was one of their clients. According to Goldblatt the supplier of the pings is a company called LAD which is a division of 3DT Group in America.

Goldblatt is also a registered user on MarisIT Credit Services, a consumer trace company, which gives users access to the credit bureau. MarisIT would give the client access to information on cellular numbers and identity numbers linked to the credit bureau.

These revelations contained in Goldblatt’s statement dated 21 October 2020, was used by the State during Kilian’s unsuccessful bail bid in March 2021.

“I provided Zane Kilian with my login details as well as password for MarisIT Credit service and he paid me R5,000 for 100 searches. He always used the reference “Boss or Zain’ on my instruction,” his statement reads.

Kilian and alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack are the main accused in the murder of Anti-Gang Unit Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear on 18 September 2020. They have also been charged with attempting to murder lawyer William Booth on 9 April 2020.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Gang leader charged alongside Nafiz Modack over attempted murder of lawyer William Booth”

Modack, Kilian and 12 other co-accused face more than 3,100 charges in a case which depicts Modack as the leader of a lucrative criminal organisation: the “Modack Enterprise”.

The only tangible new information that emerged during Kilian’s latest bail application was when he testified that a lawyer warned him that if he implicated alleged gang boss Modack in the assassination of Kinnear, 'myself and my family might as well pick out our coffins’.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Lawyer warned me not to implicate Modack in Kinnear’s murder, Zane Kilian claims in latest bail bid.”

Also on Tuesday, 28 November, Kilian made an emotional plea to the Western Cape Division of the high court to release him on bail because he is allegedly a target inside prison and is only safe outside the province.

System used in a gang war

Goldblatt’s relationship with Kilian began in November 2018 while he was doing vehicle bank repossessions. According to him, Kilian became interested in location-based services (pings). Goldblatt further stated that he was having difficulty collecting payments from Kilian (R2,100 per month). That changed in March 2020, when Kilian allegedly requested 1,000 pings.

“On 1 September, 2020, I received an automatic alert from the LAD system that the user Zane Kilian is repeatedly pinging the same number. I audited his profile and concentrated on three numbers which were that of 082 781 2245 Charl K, 071 299 6923 Sgt Tisha Vd Horst AGU and 083 250 9556 William Booth (Booth Attorney),” he said.

Goldblatt then looked up Booth, Kinnear, and the AGU on Google. He then came across the articles about Modack and Kinnear. That’s when he realised Charl K was actually Charl Kinnear.

“I realised that the system is being used in a Gang War. On 3 September 2020 I came in contact with a police officer and handed all the information. On 16 September 2020, there was a big increase of the pings on the number of Kinnear done by Kilian,” according to Goldblatt.

Zane Kilian (front second right) sits next to Nafiz Modack (front left) in the dock at the Cape Town high court. (Photo: Daily Maverick)

On the day of the assassination of Kinnear, he noticed that Kilian started pinging the number of Kinnear at 2.30am and the last ping stopped at 3.25pm. It is then that he learned of the assassination of Kinnear.

“That evening I was contacted by a police officer. I asked him how this happened after I gave him the warning two weeks before. He told me that I would be contacted by the investigating team,” he added.

More damning claims by Goldblatt against Kilian include the following: on Sunday, September 20, 2020, he was allegedly contacted by Kilian around 9.30pm, and Kilian allegedly instructed him to delete Kilian’s details from LAD and MarisIT.

“He informed me that he had already deleted his phone and I need to clean all the records and make it look like he never used any of the system,” Goldblatt claims.

Evidence is tainted

During his cross-examination on Tuesday, December 28, Kilian admitted to doing cell phone pinging using a platform and a code, and that the software and user code for this tool were obtained from Goldblatt.

In response to Goldblatt’s claims, Kilian stated: “I believe that this platform and user code provided to me by Goldblatt was also provided to other users, using the same platform and code provided to me. The pings conducted on this platform and details in possession of the state does not only include the pings that I activated, but also pings done by other individuals unknown to me. I submit at this stage that his evidence is tainted and will in my opinion not stand judicial scrutiny, including evidence obtained from his platform.

“I found that pings bought from Goldblatt disappeared from my account and that the disappearing pings were used by other individuals. Therefore the record of the pings cannot link me to all instances where individuals were pinged. Furthermore, it is unlikely that the state can prove the location of the person that did the pings with regard to the record of pings in the case docket,” he contends.

Goldblatt’s credibility

Furthermore, Kilian’s recent bail application will be a monumental task in denying Goldblatt’s credibility. The credibility of Goldblatt's statement was a point of contention during Kilian’s appeal against Magistrate Saba’s decision to deny him bail in March 2021.

It came up during his appeal before Judge Ashley Binns-Ward on May 18, 2021.

Read in Daily Maverick: Kinnear murder trial: Accused Zane Kilian’s bid for freedom scuppered as bail appeal refused

In that decision, Binns-Ward found two factors that strongly supported GoldBlatt’s credibility: first, he was the one who first contacted the police about Kilian’s pinging of Kinnear and Booth, more than two weeks before Kinnear’s murder, and second, he was able to provide the telephone number from which Kilian had contacted him.

Binns-Ward went on to say that the significance of Goldblatt’s evidence is that it stands as proof of Kilian’s propensity and readiness to interfere with the evidence if given the opportunity.

Fast forward to 3 March 2023 the bail appeal of Modack and his co-accused Jacques Cronje and alleged former AGU Sergeant Ashley Tabisher was dismissed by judge Sher.

Tabisher faces charges relating to an alleged corrupt relationship with Modack. The State purports that during November 2019, and at a time when Kinnear was investigating Modack, Tabisher allegedly agreed, for a fee of R10,000, to keep Modack informed of raids to be carried out at his home.

Sher also mentioned Kilian’s role in Kinnear’s assassination while dismissing the trio’s bail appeal. Sher found, that given the evidence, the obvious and overwhelming inference to draw is that Kilian carried out the electronic tracking of Kinnear at the behest of Modack, and the information which he forwarded to Modack and/or others connected to him, was used in order to plan and carry out his assassination.

Meanwhile, state prosecutor Greg Wolmarans has told the court the contention around Goldblatt’s statement is a fruitless argument because he, Kilian, admitted during cross examination that he had pinged several people.

Arguments in this case will resume before Judge Sher on January 24 and 25, 2024. DM

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System used in a gang war

Evidence is tainted

Goldblatt’s credibility