The tentacles of the underworld run deep and wide. Many people associated to the criminal activity of organised crime networks eventually pay the ultimate price.
This week, Mark Lifman, was the latest underworld figure to pay with his life. He died in a hail of bullets in the parking lot of the Garden Route Mall mall complex in George.
Lifman is no stranger to controversy and it is an open secret that he was a close associate of alleged Sexy Boys gang boss leader, Jerome ‘Donkie’ Booysen. After news of Lifman’s death, an emotional Booysen said he was confused by the murder and questioned where Lifman’s bodyguards were. He added he had received an invitation to Lifman’s funeral.
They were due to appear alongside William “Red” Stevens in the Western Cape High Court yesterday for the trial into the 2017 murder of Brian Wainstein known as the “Steroid King”. Stevens is said to be one of the most infamous leaders of the 27s gang.
Apart from the pending murder trial, Lifman had faced several charges in Cape Town courts over the years ranging from organised crime, indecent assault of boys and tax evasion. Many of the cases were either withdrawn or he was acquitted.
What is more concerning is the mere association to Lifman that could cost one’s life. Respected lawyers were also brazenly gunned down in recent years. One such lawyer was Advocate Pete Mihalik who was shot and killed while dropping his children off at Reddam House in Green Point in October 2018. The hitmen were paid in Kruger coins valued at R200 000 and were later sentenced to life imprisonment.
Two years earlier, prominent attorney Noorudien Hassan was shot in his car outside his home in Lansdowne.
Both Hassan and Mihalik had worked on several cases involving the underworld. Hassan also represented former police Colonel Chris Prinsloo accused of selling at least 2 000 firearms set for destruction, to gangsters particularly on the Cape Flats.
While many in the underworld and those affiliated to gangs enjoy power, influence, and control, it is clear someone else is always calling the shots.
And what about the truck loads of money exchanged and drugs involved in dodgy deals? At the end of the day someone has to pay the invaluable cost- with their lives.
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