Admissions read into record as Modack trial resumes

NewsSportLifestyleEntertainmentOpinionNewsAdmissions read into record as Modack trial resumesZanele Mvana|Published 10 hours agoCopy to ClipboardAsk AISICK: Janick Adonis

The trial of alleged underworld boss Nafiz Modack and his 14 co-accused resumed in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday after Monday’s sitting was postponed.

The matter could not proceed on Monday because accused number 10, Yannick Adonis, was not in court. He was allegedly sick from food poisoning. 

Presiding Judge Robert Henney said Adonis is crucial in the case and therefore needs to be present. 

He ruled that “all accused must be present in court” before the trial could continue, and postponed proceedings to today. 

Modack, accused 1, and his co-accused face 124 charges, including murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, fraud and money laundering. 

At the centre of the case is the alleged plot to kill Anti-Gang Unit detective Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear.

The State alleges Modack headed a criminal enterprise that planned a series of attacks on Kinnear in 2019, before he was eventually shot dead outside his Bishop Lavis home in September 2020.

It is alleged that on the night of 22 to 23 November 2019, a hand grenade was thrown at Kinnear’s home in a failed attempt to kill him. 

Two other alleged attempts to murder him in 2019 also failed.

The State alleges accused 10, Yannick Adonis, and accused 11, his former partner Amaal Jantjies, were tasked with carrying out the attacks on behalf of Modack. Adonis has denied knowing of a plan to kill Kinnear.

He told the court that senior police officials, including the late Major-General Andre Lincoln, sanctioned the grenade attack as part of an operation targeting Modack.

Jantjies has also testified, insisting she acted on Adonis’s instructions. 

Wednesday’s proceedings were mainly focused on admissions and statements being read into the record by lawyers for accused 1, accused 13 and accused 14.

The admissions form part of the defence’s formal record as the court works through each accused’s version before the matter moves toward final argument. 

All 15 accused have pleaded not guilty and the trial continues.