‘Construction mafia’ murder accused added to case against 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield

Underworld figures (from left) William Stevens, Mark Lifman and Jerome Booysen leave the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court after each being granted R100,000 bail on 22 December, 2020. They appeared in connection with the 2017 murder in Cape Town of ‘Steroid King’ Brian Wainstein. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Adrian de Kock)

By Samane Jnr Marks and Caryn Dolley

25 Jun 2024

The case against alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson has intensified with two sets of accused now added who are charged with various crimes, including murders, now added to it.

A case involving alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson now includes others who were recently charged with murder.

This emerged in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 25 June.

Three men arrested last week – Jonathan Cloete, Shakeel Pelston and Abraham Wilson – appeared in the dock for the second time.

Expanding case

Daily Maverick reported last week that they face charges relating to murder and attempted murder.

In a new development on Tuesday, two other accused appeared in the dock with the trio. They are Warren Lee Dennis and Imtiyaaz Sedick.

Dennis has been charged in connection with the February 2023 murder of City of Cape Town official Wendy Kloppers.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Suspect arrested for Cape Town ‘construction mafia’ murder of city worker Wendy Kloppers

It emerged during Tuesday’s proceedings that Dennis handed himself over to police on Monday and was charged with murder and attempted murder.

Sedick was taken into custody earlier on Tuesday.

The five accused face more than 20 charges.

Case merger

During Tuesday’s proceedings, details emerged about the case being joined to one involving vehicle theft, in which Stanfield and Johnson are the main accused.

The couple, together with Denver Booysen, Johannes Abrahams and Jose Brandt, face charges relating to theft and fraud.

Stanfield also faces an attempted murder charge.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Court hears alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield’s jail cell raided, documents seized

That case began developing in September last year when Stanfield and Johnson were arrested at their home in the upmarket Cape Town suburb of Constantia.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, prosecutor Frank van Heerden told magistrate Alida Theart that the state “may add further charges as well as other accused should the state be able to trace them”.

Van Heerden said that “when everyone is around, we can properly iron things out”.

He requested that the matter be postponed to later this week so that the “five accused can meet with Stanfield and the other co-accused in the dock”.

The case is set to proceed in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile talks to members of the media outside the Cape Town Magistrates' court after a postponement in the case of murdered city official Wendy Kloppers on 25 June 2024. (Photo: David Harrison)

‘Steady progress’

The courtroom was packed during Tuesday’s proceedings.

Western Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Thembisile Patekile was among those present, indicating that police view the high-profile case in a serious light.

Outside the court, Patekile addressed the media, expressing optimism about progress in tackling organised crime.

“We’re not yet out of the woods. However, we’re eating the [criminal] element piece by piece, then we hope when we are done, there’ll only be bones left.”

He said police were dealing with an entrenched problem that they wanted to uproot – “we’re making steady progress towards achieving that.”

Tuesday’s merging of suspects with the Stanfield and Johnson case is significant.

Construction site murder

It means that the overall case, in which the couple are key accused, now includes murder charges.

In terms of Dennis and the charges relating to the murder of Wendy Kloppers, his addition to the case introduces elements of crimes related to “construction mafias”.

Kloppers was gunned down at the Symphony Way Housing Project building site in Delft.

City Manager Lungelo Mbandazayo previously told IOL that she was killed after the City refused to give in to gangsters who had been demanding work from contractors.

Kloppers’ murder resulted in the City investigating certain construction-related tenders.

Daily Maverick last week reported that Cloete, Pelston and Wilson face charges relating to various offences, including the September 2021 murder of Faizel Adams, a police officer based at Parliament.

Shootings

The charges also relate to the attempted killing of Joel Booysen, the son of alleged Sexy Boys gang leader Jerome “Donkie” Booysen.

In May last year, Daily Maverick reported that Joel Booysen was wounded in a shooting in the Cape Town suburb of Green Point.

Read more in Daily Maverick: The wild, wild Cape – Shooting of a ‘rival’s’ son plus ‘Nafiz Modack enterprise’s’ 3,000 charges

Charges against Cloete, Pelston and Wilson also link to the murder of William “Red” Stevens.

Stevens, reputed to have been one of the most seasoned 27s gangsters in the Western Cape, was shot outside his home in the Cape Town suburb of Kraaifontein in February 2021.

At the time of his murder, Stevens was set to appear in the Western Cape High Court, along with other accused including Jerome Booysen, in a case revolving around the August 2017 assassination of steroid smuggler Brian Wainstein.

Wainstein was murdered in his home in Constantia, the same suburb Johnson and Stanfield were arrested in last year in connection with the case in which they remain in custody. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

South Africa

Expanding case

Case merger

‘Steady progress’

Construction site murder

Shootings