Cape Town's underworld bosses in court: 'We have legislative tools to tackle them'

Lester Kiewit interviews Jeremy Vearey, Former Detective and Teacher in Mitchells Plain.

Listen below.

Stringent security protocols were enforced at the Western Cape High Court as several of the nation's most prominent alleged underworld figures faced separate trials.

Nafiz Modack and his 14 co-accused are facing more than 100 charges, including the alleged murder of anti-gang detective Charl Kinnear.

Modack is further accused of masterminding the killings of Nico Heerschap, father of Hawks officer and bouncer Pitsou Falanga, tow truck driver Richard Joseph, and the attempted murder of defence attorney William Booth.

In another courtroom, Modack's rivals, Mark Lifman and Jerome Booysen, alongside a dozen others, confronted multiple gang-related charges.

Vearey says heightened policing has been ineffective thus far, particularly concerning organised crime.

However, thanks to the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, for the first time, gangs can be tackled as organised criminal entities, which has proven effective.

Vearey emphasises the necessity of training and equipping a broader range of personnel, beyond specialised units, to effectively combat these entities, now that a successful approach has been identified.

ALSO READ:

• Alleged gang boss Nafiz Modack set to go on trial on Tuesday
• Modack believes a plot was developed to keep him behind bars
• Two accused in Nafiz Modack trial deny playing part in committing murders for him
• Self-confessed hitman says he was given a car by Modack henchman on day of his arrest

"We have the legislative tools to tackle them... We have a method that produces results."

- Jeremy Vearey, Former Detective

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.