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Nafiz Modack says no solid link ties him to Charl Kinnear’s murder

Nafiz Modack says no solid link ties him to Charl Kinnear’s murder
Jeremy Vearey. (Photo: Gallo Images / Daily Maverick / Leila Dougan)
Vincent Cruywagen
By Vincent Cruywagen
21 Jan 2025
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Alleged Cape Town underworld figure Nafiz Modack says the only evidence linking him to the murder of Anti-Gang Unit commander Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear is the ‘pinging’ of his cellphone.

Nafiz Modack’s lawyer Bash Sibda delivered 53 pages of arguments on why the court should drop the murder charge against his client. Arguments were heard before Judge Robert Henney in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday, 21 January 2025.

Modack and his 14 co-accused filed a section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act motion in the Western Cape High Court on 2 December 2024, requesting that all charges against them be dropped. The motion came after the State’s decision in November 2024 to close the case against Modack and his co-accused.

If a trial court determines that there is insufficient evidence to support a conviction, it may render a not guilty decision after the prosecution has completed its arguments.

Read more: Nafiz Modack wants Kinnear murder charges dropped after prosecutors close their case

Modack and debt collector and former rugby player Zane Kilian are the two main accused in Kinnear’s assassination on 18 September 2020. The State contends that they also conspired in a failed attempt to murder lawyer William Booth in April 2020.

Modack and Kilian, with the other accused, are collectively facing 124 charges, including murder, attempted murder, corruption, gangsterism, extortion, the illegal interception of communications, money laundering and contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

The other accused are Jacques Cronje, Ziyaad Poole, Moegamat Brown, Riyaat Gesant, Fagmeed Kelly, Mario Petersen, Petrus Visser, Janick Adonis, Amaal Jantjies, former AGU Sergeant Ashley Tabisher, Yaseen Modack, Mogamat Mukudam and Ricardo Morgan.

Modack and his co-accused pleaded not guilty to the charges in January 2024.

‘No link’ to Kinnear murder


Modack contends that nothing connects him to the assassination of Kinnear and that the only matter linking him to the crime was the pinging. It is Modack’s version that he did not kill Kinnear.

Kinnear was gunned down at 3pm in front of his house at 10 Gearing Street, Bishop Lavis on 18 September 2020. At that very moment, the Hawks were monitoring pings on Kinnear’s phone.

Kinnear’s phone was pinged at least 2,400 times, the most recent being 25 minutes after his murder. This, the State contends, was reportedly crucial in helping his alleged killers track his movements.

Read more: Hawks were monitoring pinging of Kinnear’s phone when he was assassinated, court hears.

Sibda told the court that there was no clear connection between the shooter, who is still at large, and the pinging. As a result, the defence argues that, while the legality of pinging is a separate issue, pinging can only be considered a tool for murder if the information provided was in fact used by the shooter.

He said the evidence presented could not exclude that the shooter was waiting for Kinnear and assassinated him after he physically saw him. A hooded gunman approached Kinnear’s car and shot him through the window, according to video footage that went viral on social media. 

“It is submitted that high pinging does not equate to an assassination attempt as there are a myriad of reasons why someone would be pinged,” the heads of argument read.

Sibda stated his client did not dispute the pinging was carried out by Kilian under the instructions of Modack. But the defence disputes the validity of Kilian’s pinging.

The defence contends in its submission that screenshots taken from Kilian’s phone were claimed to be from Modack, but that none of the cellphone numbers were verified as belonging to Modack, implying that there is no clear link. The defence claims that Kilian created those screenshots himself to give the impression that he was in a close relationship with Modack.

Judge Henney asked Sibda: “Are you saying there is no need for Modack to take the stand? You say there is no evidence that the shooter used pinging, which is speculative. You assert it as fact. You can’t say the shooter didn’t use pinging.”

The judge said that all of the evidence that led to Kinnear’s murder had to be considered and that bits could not be highlighted while other factors were ignored. 

Judge Henney said it was unlikely that he would grant the application for charges against Modack to be withdrawn. He told Sibda that if he granted the application for Modack, he would most likely have to grant it for all of the accused.

Failed hand grenade attack


Five attempts on Kinnear’s life occurred in November 2019, including a failed hand grenade attack on his home in Bishop Lavis on 22 January 2019.

Fareez “Mamokkie” Smith, a Junky Funky Kids (JFK) member, was arrested during the incident. Later, accused Amaal Jantjies was nabbed at her home, along with fellow-accused Janick Adonis, another JFK member who was in jail at the time for an unrelated murder. Their names were added to the charge sheet.

In April 2022, Smith spilled the beans on the hand grenade incident after entering a plea and sentence agreement with the State. The agreement was read into the record in the Khayelitsha Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Smith admitted that he conspired with another JFK member — Janick Adonis — and Amaal Jantjies to murder Kinnear at his Bishop Lavis home in November 2019.

Read more: Suspect takes plea deal and admits to grenade attempt on life of murdered cop Charl Kinnear

Alleged R3-million paid to Vearey


vearey Former head of Western Cape detectives, Major General Jeremy Vearey. (Photo: Gallo Images / Daily Maverick / Leila Dougan)



Another charge ventilated was the R3-million that Modack claims to have paid to former top police officer Major General Jeremy Vearey.

This relates to the count of corruption where Modack allegedly hired middleman Mohamedaly Hanware to develop a corrupt relationship with Kinnear and to foster a corrupt relationship with Vearey for the return of firearms seized by the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) in 2017.

At the time, Kinnear was investigating several organised crime matters, as well as colleagues suspected of creating fraudulent firearm licences for criminals.

Money was paid into four bank accounts that belonged to Caitlan Bowen, Hanware’s wife. Several payments included references such as “Gen V”, “GV”, “Gen V”, “Gv”, “Gen B”, “Gen Vearey”, and “Jeremy V”.

But on Tuesday, 22 October 2024, when Vearey took the stand, he rebutted these claims and denied receiving a bribe of nearly R3-million from Modack in an alleged attempt by Modack to have firearms confiscated by police returned.

On Tuesday, 21 January 2025, Sibda argued that there was no evidence that the money allegedly paid to Vearey was corruption, but rather that it was extortion.

Judge Henney told Sibda that if Modack asserted that the money was paid for extortion, he should take the stand, testify under oath and be cross-examined.

The matter continues on Wednesday, 22 January 2025. DM

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