Cape Town - The three suspected hitmen from Cape Town who made headlines following their arrest in Durban have appeared in court.
Keano Nathan de Klerk, David Christian Davids and Aneek Francis, alleged to be gang members from Delft, appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The suspects were arrested on Saturday after police received information about possible stolen vehicles spotted at a lodge in Sydenham.
At the lodge, police found two vehicles, a white Toyota Corolla and a silver Renault Duster, which were recently hijacked in Durban.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Robert Netshiunda, said officers also discovered four firearms, nine fully-loaded magazines, eight bullet-resistant vests and an empty rifle bag.
The trio face charges of possession of illegal firearms with the serial numbers filed off, possession of ammunition and two stolen vehicles.
Following their brief appearance on Monday, KwaZulu-Natal NPA spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara confirmed that the case was postponed to December 18.
“The matter did appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court. It was remanded to December 18 for bail consideration, which means that the accused are currently in custody,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
De Klerk, Davids and Francis were believed to have boarded a bus from Bellville to the Durban suburb last week and were evidently out to execute a hit.
Meanwhile, Sydenham is predominantly known for persistent drug turf wars. In the past, it has seen Capetonian gangsters flock to the area to take control of the lucrative drug trade.
Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane, a researcher at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, said the co-operation between gangs from different provinces had increased over the last decade.
“Very often what you do find is that hitmen of those gangs move around from province to province to carry out hits.
“Like in the Overport area, there were quite a lot of relationships between Cape Town and Durban gangs where hitmen came in from Cape Town, committed hits and moved back,” Irish-Qhobosheane explained.
“We have also seen a similar pattern in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng.”
The suspects’ arrest has also raised eyebrows back home concerning the lengths criminals would go to in committing crime.
Western Cape Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC, Reagen Allen, said it was good that both the criminals and their weapons were now off the streets.
“This is deeply alarming. I also thank the community for making the SAPS aware. It is also prudent that it be established whether they’ve been involved in any crimes in the Delft area so that they can be held accountable for that as well,” Allen said.