Bouncers, Bullies And Crime Syndicates: Report Lifts Lid On Cape Town's Extortion Rings

Extortion has become an enterprise across South Africa and most businesses are being held ransom by these extortion gangs.

In a report released by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) in April, the four main extortion economies - night time extortion in the CBD, construction mafia, township and transport, were examined thoroughly and how Cape Town has emerged as the epicentre of this growing pandemic.

GI-TOC was established in 2013, and its vision is to mobilise a global strategic approach to tackling organised crime by strengthening political commitment to address the challenge, building the analytical evidence based on organised crime, disrupting criminal economies, and developing networks of resilience in affected communities.

In its report, the organisation identified four main extortion economies: the central business district (CBD) night-time extortion economy, Cape Towns construction mafia, the transport extortion economy, and the township enterprise extortion economy.

According to the report, this type of extortion rose to prominence in the Cape Town CBD in the late 1990s when underworld kingpin Cyril Beeka and his associates started targeting the nightlife industry.

Beeka and associates followed the classic model of extortion known as protection racketeering, in which criminal groups use violence and intimidation to demand payment from businesses for so-called protection and force businesses to make use of their affiliated private security companies.

In March 2011, Beeka was assassinated in a drive-by shooting by an unknown gunman on a motorcycle in Bellville and a new player rose to fame, Mark Lifman who sought to take over Beekas territory.

Lifman, along with Andr Naud, alleged Sexy Boys gang leader, Jerome Donkie Booysen , and his brother, Colin Booysen , merged Beekas two security companies with a security company operated by Naud to form Specialised Protection Services (SPS) to oversee all club bouncers in Cape Town.

However, the new brotherhood was short-lived, in 2016, an altercation broke out between Colin and an individual at Coco Bar in Loop Street, Cape Town.

In court papers of a pending matter filed at the Western Cape High Court, Colin had complained his own brother had brought 27 gang members which included alleged gang boss, William Red Stevens, who was the cause of problems.

This saw the brotherhood split and Colin opting to form relations with his old groups now rival - Nafiz Modack .

Court documents further reveal Modack and Colin started a hostile takeover of the clubs from Lifman and Donkie.

This rivalry has resulted in years of attempted murder plots.

Red, who was assassinated before he could go on trial, allegedly volunteered his men to take the clubs back by force.

In 2017, Modack, Colin, Ashley Fields, Jacques Cronje, and Carl Lakay were arrested. They face eight charges of extortion and one charge of intimidation after they allegedly tried to extort R369,000 from The Grand Africa Cape and Beach near the V&A Waterfront.

The group were alleged to be behind a violent takeover of the nightclub security industry in Cape Town, forcing owners of clubs and restaurants to pay their company, TSG (The Security Group), for protection.

That amount was later reduced to R90,000.

Carl Lakay was murdered in August 2018, in the driveway of his Goodwood home.

However, in February 2020, the group was acquitted on all charges .

In December 2020, Lifman and Jerome Booysen were arrested and charged with the murder of international steroid smuggler Brian Wainstein.

They were also part of a group charged under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca). The alleged underworld kingpins have both pleaded not guilty to all charges .

In April 2021, Modack was arrested in connection with the murder of SAPS

Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear, who was gunned down outside his Bishop Lavis home in September 2020, had been investigating a gun racket involving Modack and high-ranking police officers

Modack currently faces over 3,000 charges, including murder, attempted murder, extortion, intimidation, abduction, money laundering, fraud, racketeering, undermining the administration of justice, public violence, violation of the Poca, and the unlawful interception of communications.

The matter against both groups is currently being heard in the Western Cape High Court.

The report sai