Five people were arrested on Monday in connection with the murders of Crazy Monkey — Straight Outta Benoni actor Brett Goldin and a friend Richard Bloom.
Their bodies were found in a field next to the off-ramp from the M5 freeway to Klipfontein Road in Mowbray, Cape Town, early on Monday. They were found lying on their stomachs, naked, each with a bullet wound to the back of the head, according to police spokesperson Superintendent Billy Jones.
Talk Radio 702 reported that Bloom (28) was a fashion designer. Goldin (27) played the character ”B-Dog” in the film.
They were registered as missing after Camps Bay police found a credit card belonging to Goldin in the possession of three men whose car was stopped and searched at 5am.
They were arrested for being in possession of a suspected stolen item. Police tried to locate the credit-card holder, but could only locate his family and friends.
They established that the two were last seen leaving a party in Victoria Road in Bakoven, Camps Bay, before midnight on Saturday.
Two other men were arrested in Crawford, Athlone at 9am on Monday.
Police said the arrested men had shown them the bodies. Bloom’s charcoal VW Polo Playa is still missing. The five, all in their late teens and early 20s and all from the Athlone area, are in police custody.
Superintendent Billy Jones told the Mail & Guardian Online on Tuesday afternoon that the police ”haven’t recovered any firearm yet”.
Whether Goldin and Bloom were murdered in the field ”has not been confirmed yet”, but indications on the scene all point to the murders happening there, said Jones.
He confirmed that ”the suspects accompanied the police to the scene” shortly before 4am on Monday morning.
Three are expected to appear on a charge of possession of stolen items in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday and all five on charges of murder and robbery in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Rapport newspaper reports that 52 people are killed daily, 1 566 per month and 18 793 annually in South Africa.
”How many more people have to be murdered, raped, assaulted, robbed and tortured before the African National Congress government will wake up to the enormity and the sheer brutality of the problem?” Democratic Alliance spokesperson on safety and security Roy Jankielsohn said in a statement.
According to the paper, the South African Human Rights Commission was of the opinion that the country’s Constitution was in danger of becoming meaningless as an individual’s right to life was not being respected.
Jankielsohn said the media had reported incidents where South Africans had fallen victims to criminals, but the government had not acted to prevent such incidents.
”Gang violence in the Western Cape has claimed more lives, a well-known movie and television director was shot and killed in Gauteng.”
Television director Ken Kirsten (58) was gunned down in the driveway of his Northcliff, Johannesburg, home last Sunday. Gang violence in the Western Cape had claimed the lives of seven people in the past two weeks, according to Rapport.
The Star newspaper reported on Tuesday that Goldin had been preparing to travel to the United Kingdom to perform in a Janet Suzman production of Hamlet.
Goldin’s mother Denise was quoted by The Star as saying: ”He was so excited to go [to the UK]. My husband and I feel like our hearts have been torn out. He was such a wonderful, loving man who was always cheerful and full of life”.
A message of condolence on the crazymonkey.com website said Goldin’s death was a shock to the whole country and a terrible tragedy.
”Brett was a good person who only had love in his heart. The Crazy Monkey team is now no longer and this country has suffered a great loss. Brett was a talented soul who had a great sense of humour and an inspired life. We are all at a loss for words over this horrific story — Brett, you are in in our prayers and in our hearts. Our lives were better with you around. This is a terrible loss that makes no sense. God bless your special soul,” said the website.
According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) the film was inspired by a series of spots made for MTV as idents to go between music videos.
The team behind the project first made them in the hope that MTV would air them at least once, but MTV loved them, said IMDB. They were soon being aired by all the MTV regions in Europe, Canada, South America, Australia and Asia.
The film starred Brendan Jack, Gavin Williams, Tanit Phoenix, Colin Moss and Goldin. – Sapa