Cape Town — More details have emerged surrounding the death of underworld kingpin, Mark Lifman, as the two alleged suspects made another court appearance.
Lifman was gunned down in the parking lot of the Garden Route Mall in George, and just days later, two men were arrested and detained for his murder.
The two suspects, Johannes Hendrik Hacobs and Gert Bezuidenhout, made another appearance in the George Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. According to IOL, a source from the Cape Argus revealed the two men had made multiple trips to the Garden Route as part of a six-month plan to kill Lifman.
The men were tasked with scouting the area, tracing Lifman’s movements, and planning an escape.
“See, they were planning this for a long time. Since the car used in the murder was impounded, a lot of work had gone into tracking how this vehicle moved around before the shooting. They were scouting George and Knysna for at least six months prior and the car was even picked up in Table View four days before the shooting,” the source revealed.
The suspects had six license plate sets, gloves, bras wigs and ammunition on them to conceal their identities and it is believed that they planned to dress up like women.
A close associate of Lifman’s revealed that there was an R10 million bounty for his murder, and it is believed the conflict started at a mine in Middelburg during a pub fight.
Johannes Hendrik Jacobs (53) and Gert Johannes Bezuidenhout (37) briefly appeared in the George Magistrates Court. They face charges of premeditated murder following the assassination of alleged underworld kingpin, Mark Lifman (57). Bail application set for 12&13 Dec#sabcnews pic.twitter.com/hq86rWjD6V
— Sphiwe Hobasi (@MrCow_man) November 13, 2024
“This thing started in March in Middelburg, not Cape Town. There is a guy who is a big businessman who was allegedly high on drugs and throwing his weight around,” the source said.
The businessman was throwing Mark’s name around and he was called. He confirmed that he knew the businessman and the situation had been defused. The source said the fight had escalated with takeovers of the security contract at the mine.
According to The Citizen, Lifman was gunned down while he was out on R100 000 bail for the murder of “Steroid King”, Brian Wainstein, who was shot and killed at his home in 2017. He was the prime suspect along with his two co-accused, Jerome “Donkie” Booysen and Andre Naude.
During the court proceedings, Magistrate Emma Moloro was told the ID parade had not yet been concluded and called for a ban on the media until it was done. Meanwhile, the defence lawyer, Bulelanu Bans, came on record and told the court he had consulted with the families.
The legal teams informed Moloro that an advocate from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would be assigned to the matter as they called for a postponement until December.
The case has subsequently been postponed to December 12 and 13 for the formal bail hearings to take place.
Picture: X/@AFRICANDEMOC
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
