Allegations of police corruption resurface as SAPS captain takes the stand in Modack trial

Allegations of police corruption have again taken centre stage in the high‑profile trial of alleged underworld gang boss Nafiz Modack, with a senior South African Police Service (SAPS) officer facing scrutiny in the Western Cape High Court this past week.

Modack, who is on trial along with 14 co‑accused, faces 122 charges related to allegedly operating a criminal enterprise.

The charges include the murder of top cop Colonel Charl Kinnear, who was shot outside his Bishop Lavis home in September 2020.

The trial resumed on Monday this week after a two‑month recess, with SAPS Captain Alfred Barker taking the stand as a defence witness.

Barker, who has previous experience in the Crime Intelligence unit, told the court he began investigating complaints made by Modack in 2017 after Modack contacted him through a police constable.

READ MORE: New evidence potentially links Nafiz Modack to 2018 Kinnear attempted murder

Modack trial: Judge tells police captain he was misled by alleged underworld gang boss

According to Barker, Modack alleged that his purported underworld rival, the now‑deceased Mark Lifman, along with senior police officers Jeremy Vearey and Charl Kinnear, were involved in a conspiracy against him.

The court heard that Barker arrested Lifman in 2018 for allegedly pointing a firearm at Modack. However, Barker said the case never made it to court.

He also testified that he compiled dockets containing allegations against Vearey and Kinnear and handed them to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
“I booked it in for a decision at the DPP’s office and ever since, I have never seen the dockets,” Barker told the court.

Presiding Judge Robert Henney questioned the quality of the evidence Barker said he had collected, suggesting it was scant and insufficient to warrant prosecutorial action.

Henney further indicated that Barker may have been misled by Modack when opening the cases.

Evidence shows Modack “withheld key facts” and “led you astray,” Henney said during Barker’s testimony.

Under cross‑examination by the State, Barker repeatedly denied Modack’s claims that the captain had instructed him to continue paying senior police officers in an attempt to expose alleged corruption.

Modack has claimed that Barker guided him in making payments to Vearey and Kinnear to prove they were corrupt.

“If he thought that I was working with him, that’s the wrong impression he created,” Barker testified. “Mr Modack was never an informant for me… he was just an ordinary complainant.”

Barker acknowledged taking statements from Modack in 2018, in which Modack alleged that Vearey and Kinnear had extorted money from him in exchange for the return of firearms seized from his home.

The cross‑examination also focused heavily on Barker’s arrest of former State witness Mohamed Hanware in December 2018.

Hanware previously testified that he had tricked Modack into believing he could influence Vearey and Kinnear by accepting bribes to secure the return of Modack’s firearms.

State prosecutor Blaine Lazarus confronted Barker with allegations that Hanware accused him of torture in an attempt to extract statements against other individuals. Barker denied the allegations.

“I’ve never, in my career, tortured anyone,” Barker told the court. “I’ve worked with many gangsters, but I’ve never tortured.”

Judge Henney warned Barker to consider obtaining legal advice before answering further questions that could potentially incriminate him.

In a further development, the State concluded its cross‑examination after Barker provided a list of four cellphone numbers allegedly used by Modack to contact him during the 2018 corruption investigation.

Henney pointed out that one of the numbers appeared to feature in evidence linked to a botched grenade attack on Kinnear in 2018, an incident for which Modack has been charged with attempted murder.

The court heard that the same number was allegedly used to transmit Kinnear’s address to co‑accused Yannick Adonis. Modack has previously denied sending the address.

The trial continues in the Western Cape High Court next week.