Cape Town - A Durban man appeared in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday where he faced numerous charges for allegedly supplying gangs with guns.
Anderson Padayachee is facing 66 counts on charges of murder, attempted murder, fraud, contravention of the firearms control act and gangsterism.
Padayachee is a licensed arms dealer who owns a business in Durban. He has traded in the buying and selling of firearms since 2017. The State has alleged that Padayachee failed to comply with regulations issued in terms of being a registered trader.
The state also alleges that Padayachee has participated in the Terrible Josters criminal gang by wilfully aiding and abetting criminal gang activity committed for the benefit of or in association with the gang.
The state said that Padayachee, “unlawfully sold or supplied firearms and ammunition to members of the Terrible Josters criminal gang individually and collectively” and that these firearms were used by the gang to commit various offences including murder.
The state said that the firearms used to murder a number of people were registered to the dealership owned by Padayachee but that these details did not form part of his stock register.
The state also claims that Padayachee has received money from the proceeds of unlawful activities relating to the sale of firearms and ammunition.
During pre-trial proceedings, Padayachee who is out on R60 000 bail, was unable to say with certainty whether he will be represented by William Booth, his attorney on record.
The court heard that Padayachee had given Booth financial instructions to represent him for one term but the state prosecutor indicated that the trial would most likely run for an entire year. This comes after a failed plea deal between the parties.
Judge Mark Sher has ordered that the matter be set for another pre-trial date in July in order for Padayachee to finalise legal representation.
“We cannot sit here and wait while you decide to fund raise or not for your legal representation. We have rolls and we have duties to discharge to make sure that criminal matters are brought to trial expeditiously, as quickly as possible in the interest of justice, in the interest of the victims, in the interest of society and of the accused.
“I am not going to allow any game plan where this matter is delayed purposefully,” the judge said.