Ex-Springbok rugby stars, the battle for “the doors and drugs” at Cape Town nightclubs, notorious gangs and the assassination of an international steroid dealer may seem totally unrelated.
But in the developing murder case of Cape Town underworld figure Mark Lifman, they serve to illustrate just how far and wide the intricate web of organised crime stretches in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
The suave property mogul and businessman – whose name continued to float to the surface of Cape Town’s murky underworld – was gunned down in the parking lot of the Garden Route Mall, in George, on Sunday morning.
Mark Lifman on trial for Steriod King murder
Lifman’s hit-style killing comes while he was on trial – and out on bail – for the murder of “Steroid King” Brian Wainstein.
Wainstein was shot and killed in his Constantia home in August 2017.
Mother who allegedly hired hitmen to murder ‘drug-addict’ son remains behind bars
Liftman was due back in the dock at the Western Cape High Court with his co-accused which include alleged Sexy Boys gang leader Jerome “Donkie” Booysen and security boss Andre Naude, on Monday for the murder trial of the international steroid smuggler.
The State alleges that Wainstein and Lifman clashed over property deals and a plan was then hatched to have Wainstein murdered.
James Dalton on Lifman hitlist?
The state also alleged that on 19 November 2017, at or near the exclusive Sea Point suburb of Fresnaye, gangster Fabian Cupido and Lifman conspired to murder several members of Lifman’s alleged underworld rivals, including Nafiz Modack, Booysen’s brother Colin, security company manager Carl Lakay, alleged Woodstock gang boss Ashley Fields, Emile Goodley, and former Springbok rugby star James “Bullet” Dalton.
The rugby bad boy’s name has – according to his own admission in his biography, Bulletproof – rubbed shoulders with suspected underworld figures. Dalton has also had a few brushes with the law.
It is understood Dalton may have been acquainted with Wainstein.
Lifman murder suspects arrested near Uniondale
Lifman’s alleged killers – Johannes Jacobs, 53, and Gert “Johnny” Bezuidenhout, 37 – were arrested shortly after his assassination near Uniondale while travelling in the white VW Polo used in the drive-by shooting.
Their swift arrest came after the alarm was raised on a local farm security group when video footage from a farmer’s CCTV security camera of the duo stopping in a field to change their car’s number plates and clothes, surfaced.
On Tuesday morning, Jacobs and Bezuidenhout were charged with the premeditated murder of the 57-year-old suspected underworld linchpin during their first court appearance.
The two men’s request to be held in solitary confinement was denied.
Bezuidenhout worked for a security company providing protection services to high-profile business owners, while Jacobs is said to be a former “highly, highly trained” Special Task Force (STF) member, according to Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile.
Lifman used to be a director at the company called Professional Protection Alternatives (PPA).
‘Johnny Bacardi’
Tenants at the apartment complex in Sea Point where Bezuidenhout lived, told News24 that the highly trained security official was regularly seen entering and leaving the building with “another man”, whom they now know is his co-accused.
“The two were often in gym clothing, lifting weights in the building’s parking area,” an elderly woman shared with the publication.
In an unusual twist surfacing from his past, Bezuidenhout was named in 2013 as glamour magazine Cosmopolitan’s “hottest bartender of the year”.
“When he was announced the winner, he ripped off his vest and jumped into the crowd, who lifted him above their heads,” the Weekend Argus reported in 2013.
Bezuidenhout’s social media profiles from the time, under the name “Johnny Bacardi” and long since abandoned, show his interests at the time centred on his career in the nightlife industry and mixed martial arts, with occasional references to family braais.
Café Caprice shooting
Bezuidenhout was described as a “mixed martial arts enthusiast” who at the time of the competition worked at the late and great Springbok winger James Small’s Camps Bay restaurant and bar, Café Caprice.
On 17 April 2017, a double shooting rocked the rugby star’s popular hangout.
The incident, in which two people sustained gunshot wounds, took place days after the CBD nightclub security turf war flared up again on 9 April.
The Cape Town CBD has experienced several cycles of violence, linked to the rise of various criminal actors and their desire to assert dominance and control in the nightclub security extortion racket.
The Hawks took over the investigation from the local police after reports surfaced the shooting was linked to the club turf war.
‘Battle for the doors and drugs’
In the late 1990s, rumoured ANC-aligned state intelligence operative and underworld kingpin Cyril Beeka dominated nightclub security in the city with his companies called Pro Access and Red Security.
Beeka – who also served as Czech fugitive and former crime boss Rodovan Krejcir‘s security consultant before their fall-out – was assassinated in March 2011.
Following Beeka’s death, Lifman, former bouncer André Naudé, alleged Sexy Boys gang leader, Jerome “Donkie” Booysen, and his now estranged brother Colin Booysen merged Beeka’s two security companies with a security company operated by Naudé to form Specialised Protection Services (SPS).
Café Caprice: Lifman vs Modack
The Café Caprice shooting coincided with the time Nafiz Modack (who had known and been aligned to Beeka) and his associates, under The Security Group, started to try and muscle out the Lifman group’s security contracts.
According to a Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) study detailing the Lifman group’s involvement in the CBD nightclub security racket titled Uncovering Cape Town’s Extortion Networks, “Modack’s entry as a rival punctured the relative peace in the nightclub industry”.
The bitter rivalry between the Modack group and Lifman group resulted in years of attempted murder plots and assassinations.
‘At the last minute, I cancelled’
In an exclusive interview with News24 at the time, Modack claimed that he was the intended target of the Café Caprice attack.
“On that particular day, we were supposed to have a meeting there. At the last minute, I cancelled,” Modack said.
In 2019, former 27s numbers gang member Chestlyn Adams was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for his role in the double shooting at Café Caprice.
James Small’s death at Krejcir associate’s strip club
The legendary 1995 World Cup-winning Springboks player Small died of a heart attack on 10 July 2019 at The Harem, a “gentleman’s club” in Bedfordview.
Before he ended up playing soccer with former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius in prison after his 2016 conviction for drug dealing, kidnapping and attempted murder, Bedfordview was the flamboyant yet short-lived crime empire of Krejcir.
Lifman, as well as Modack, have been linked to the Johannesburg underworld kingpin.
The Harem’s owner, Jerome Safi, was an employee of Krejcir and the prime suspect in the 2010 murder case of German businessman Uwe Gemballa.
Safi, who at one stage also worked for slain Teazer’s strip club owner Lolly Jackson, turned state witness after a fall-out with Krejcir.
The Citizen wishes to make it clear at this point that James Small had no known links to or relations with any of the underworld figures featured in this article.
The circumstances surrounding his death, as well as the events that unfolded at the trauma unit of the Life Bedford Gardens Hospital where the rugby star was taken, made headlines with Safi’s name popping up several times.
Drama at trauma unit
A source, who was at the Life Bedford Gardens Hospital for unrelated reasons when Small was brought in, told Rapport that hospital staff called the police because of the strange events at the trauma unit.
The witness claimed that:
- A woman stormed into the hospital saying there was a “client from her club” in the car. She said, in the presence of others, that he was too heavy to be transported in a wheelchair and that the hospital should send a bed;
- The patient was naked and nurses had to rush to get a blanket to cover him up;
- The woman was with a man who identified himself as an “Uber driver”. Uber however confirmed to Rapport that it could not find any record of a requested trip in the area during that time period;
- Neither the man nor the woman would sign Small’s admission document and argued about this.
“The woman told the man to phone a ‘Steven’,” said the source.
- Another man, thought to be Steven, subsequently arrived with Small’s cellphone, laptop, wallet and a notebook. He was the one who signed the admission form;
- When the police arrived, the source claims, there was apparently an argument of some sort between the three people and the hospital’s security guards, which led to the police intervening.
“At one point, Steven even took out his firearm,” said the source.
The source said there was a “very tense” atmosphere at the hospital.
Rapport alleged that police unsuccessfully attempted to unlock Small’s phone at the scene, but they could see his SMS notification.
According to another source, a police officer remarked that R1 000 had been withdrawn from his account about half an hour before he was brought to the hospital.
‘Steven’ or Safi?
The publication further reported that the source identified Safi from a photo as the man who introduced himself as “Steven” at the hospital.
Safi, however, refuted the claim.
“It wasn’t me. It was a friend of mine. His name is Kevin. We do not know anyone called ‘Steven’ and I don’t know why this ‘Steven’ would rock up at the hospital and start waving a firearm around,” he said.
The Harem owner reportedly then sent photos of himself to Rapport as proof that it wasn’t him. Safi claimed that these are the only photos of himself that exists.
The source however insisted that it was without a doubt Safi who were at the hospital.
“That is definitely Steven. I am 100% sure of that.”
Safi responded by saying: “I do not use an alias. Everyone knows my name. It would be difficult to hide my identity in this city.”
He concluded by saying that the driver who took Small to the hospital, is employed by the Harem.
Fire destroys CCTV cameras after James Small’s death
A week after Small’s death, Safi revealed to Netwerk24 that a man wearing a rugby jersey entered the club and started a fire in one of the establishment’s rooms.
According to him, they were able to extinguish the fire before too much damage was caused.
Safi however added that the CCTV security camera system was destroyed in the fire.
