Marianne Merton and Chiara Carter
Cape police bungled a raid on the home of alleged People against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) member Ebrahim Jeneker, who was arrested this week in connection with a charge of hijacking. Police raided Jeneker’s home on Monday and seized clothes and belongings for forensic testing in connection with violence on the Cape Flats.
Police sources and Pagad leaders expressed doubts about the value of any forensic evidence that might be found. They said detectives bungled by packing Jeneker’s belongings into black bags and a biscuit box instead of bagging items separately. The method of gathering evidence means police run the risk that evidence might be contaminated.
After the raid, a warrant was issued for Jeneker’s arrest. Jeneker handed himself over to police, who arrested him in connection with a hijacking and theft of a weapon in Manenberg earlier this month.
The raid and arrest apparently flew in the face of a covert surveillance operation being conducted by police agents. Jeneker is standing trial, together with another man, for the murder of Michael Miller in Mitchells Plain last year. The case was postponed after a state witness was shot shortly before he was due to testify.
Jeneker was jailed last year for breaking a correctional supervision sentence, but was released a few months later under the presidential amnesty. Earlier this year, he was arrested and charged for the killing of Hard Livings gangster Moeneeb “Bowtie” Abrahams, but the case collapsed because of lack of evidence.
Surveillance on Jeneker was stepped up after the murder of Mongrel gang leader Ismail April. The raid on his home followed hot on the heels of the assassination of Americans gang leader Jackie Lonte.
After Jeneker’s arrest, Pagad national co- ordinator Abdus Salaam Ebrahim accused police of harassment, saying they were trying to link Pagad to the ongoing violence at any cost. Ebrahim said items seized from Jeneker’s home should have been bagged and paraded individually before a video camera.
Earlier this year, four attempted murder charges were withdrawn against Ebrahim because evidence had been tampered with. Detectives could not explain why “evidence” like bullet fragments and cartridges were dated prior to the shootings.
Although the average number of attacks on alleged drug dealers has decreased from about 14 to about three each month, police seem no closer to bringing the faceless assailants to book – not least because witnesses are reluctant to testify.
Police are investigating whether members of secret military cells thought to be operating in Cape Town killed Lonte and April. About 100 former Pagad members are alleged to have formed small cells after Pagad’s mass activities declined two years ago. These cells are thought to have joined up last year to form at least three area- based cells.
Meanwhile, the attempted murder case against Ebrahim and nine others was postponed this week after a key witness was shot. The case relates to an attack last week on the home of Americans gangster Mogamat Madat in which two children were injured. Another potential witness, Gavin Booysen, was shot dead in the same incident.