Court documents reveal that the feud between notorious brothers Jerome and Colin Booysen allegedly served as the impetus for a series of underworld hits during an alleged drug trade dispute.
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This follows the arrest of Colin and five others, who are set to stand trial for the murders of two gang bosses and an alleged henchman after being apprehended by the Hawks earlier this year.
Colin, Jerome’s younger brother, returned to Bellville Magistrates’ Court on Friday for bail hearings alongside Sillico Oliphant and Moegamat Faizel Abrahams.
The trio were arrested alongside Herbert Zoutman, Prince Khumalo and John Edward Smith.
The group faces over 20 charges, including murder, racketeering and smuggling R1.8 million worth of mandrax.
Court documents have now revealed what allegedly led to the assassinations of Mitchells Plain’s Marwaan ‘Dinky’ Desai and his henchman, Shameem Mohammed, in June 2017, as well as Johannesburg gang boss Mark ‘Bin Laden’ Groenewald.
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According to an affidavit filed by the investigating team, the case began in 2013, when they discovered a mandrax factory in Durbanville that was allegedly owned by Jerome, the alleged leader of the Sexy Boys gang known as Donkie.
Investigators initially looked into both brothers following the bust, but when they discovered Colin was allegedly separating his business from his older brother, they decided to investigate him separately.
Police intercepted Colin’s communications between August 2015 and March 2018, and they claimed that Jerome’s exclusion of Colin from business dealings resulted in violent clashes in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
‘From the investigation, it was established that Colin Booysen continued to operate a drug business and other criminal activities in the Western Cape.
‘The attempt of Jerome Booysen’s group to exclude Colin Booysen from club business activities in the Western Cape and Gauteng led to violent offences in Cape Town in order to protect their business.’
According to the State, a tracking device was placed on Desai’s white BMW X5 prior to Colin allegedly tracing him and Mohammed. They go on to say that Desai died as a result of a fistfight with Colin and a failed murder plot against him.
Groenewald was shot and killed in Reiger Park on 8 December 2017, and the State claims he was targeted because he was allegedly linked to Jerome.
‘Colin Booysen considered him (Groenwald) to be the ‘teeth of the dog’.
‘Colin Booysen indicated that he thought that if the teeth of the dog were removed, he would have fewer problems in his business dealings in Gauteng,’ the affidavits revealed.
The State has objected to Colin and his two henchmen’s release, citing the need to protect State witnesses. The hearing was rescheduled for Thursday so Colin’s legal team could respond to questions.
Earlier this year, Jerome and controversial businessman Mark Lifman were on trial in the Western Cape High Court for the murder of Brian ‘Steroid King’ Wainstein.
According to court documents, the charges against Jerome and Lifman stemmed from a fallout in the underworld ‘brotherhood.’
Naude allegedly negotiated the split, with Colin leaving the brotherhood to join the Nafiz Modack grouping.
According to the documents, the duo began taking over clubs from Lifman and Jerome, sparking a bitter rivalry that resulted in years of attempted murder plots.
In July 2017, a failed attempt was made to murder alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield, who was an alleged associate of Wainstein.
The State claims that Wainstein believed Lifman was responsible for the botched hit and planned to murder one of his bodyguards in retaliation.
According to the indictment, Lifman and the 27s gang later conspired to murder Wainstein.
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