Amaal Jantjies in the Western Cape High Court. Pic: Independent Newspapers/no byline
Cape Town - The woman who allegedly planned the grenade attacks on the home of slain Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) detective Charl Kinnear has accused his former commander of aiding her in her crimes.
The allegations by Amaal Jantjies, who is on trial alongside alleged underworld kingpin Nafiz Modack, came amid revelations by another co-accused, Ashley Tabisher.
Tabisher, a former AGU officer who is on trial for corruption, lost a bid this week in which he applied to have Judge Robert Henney rule out a warning statement made at the time of his arrest.
According to the State’s case, Tabisher is accused of conspiring with two affiliates of Modack, namely Jantjies and Janick Adonis.
While Adonis was in custody for other crimes, the State alleges that Tabisher got into an agreement with Jantjies to provide information on when the elite police unit planned on raiding Modack’s homes.
The indictment states that during 2019, Tabisher was part of a police team that helped escort Adonis to the AGU base in Faure to meet with then-commander Major-General Andre Lincoln.
The State claims that at the time, Jantjies and Adonis were in a relationship and Modack had allegedly agreed to fund a high court application aimed at appealing the bail outcome of Adonis.
In his warning statement read out in court yesterday, Tabisher denied receiving any money or cellphones from Jantjies, but it was revealed at the time of his arrest that Tabisher knew of a plan to murder Kinnear.
Tabisher said that at the first meeting between Adonis and Lincoln, the alleged gang member informed Kinnear’s commander that Modack had instructed him to carry out a hit on Kinnear. Tabisher further said that Adonis agreed to work with the AGU in exchange for Lincoln to speak to State prosecutor Blaine Lazarus to secure a reduced sentence for Adonis.
He also claimed the plan for the grenade attack was not discussed at the AGU base.
But Legal Aid lawyer Pauline Andrews told the court that her client was adamant that the grenade attack was planned at the base in the presence of Lincoln.
The court also heard evidence by Hawks detective Captain Edward du Plessis, who said bank statements proved that in just two years the Modack family received more than R9 million from the Empire Investments account.
Du Plessis told the court that despite Modack’s claims that he was being extorted by former top cop Jeremy Vearey, court papers from the Gauteng High Court showed that while Modack had applied for civil action against the police, he continued to allegedly pay them.
The Modack family was dealt another blow when Judge Henney ruled that there was no prohibition on naming Modack’s wife, Rehana Ismail, as she was a co-applicant at the Gauteng High Court.
Bank records show that of the R9m sent to the Modack family, Rehana received just more than R455 000.
Lincoln is expected to testify against Jantjies today.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus