‘Donkie’ declared ‘I am the Sheriff ’, court told of feud
|Published
“I am the Sheriff of Cape Town.”
These were allegedly words uttered by alleged Sexy Boys gang boss Jerome “Donkie” Booysen amid clashes over tow truck turf fights in Cape Town.
The claims arose in the Western Cape High Court this week during the ongoing trial against alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, and others.
The State introduced a new witness, “Mr B”, to testify about the death of slain tow truck driver Richard Josephs, who was killed just weeks after a heated meeting in September 2019.
According to the State witness, who was also Josephs’s employer, issues arose with a company known as Sasha Tow Trucking and a meeting was subsequently called at Mike’s Kitchen in Milnerton. He said Josephs was sent to the restaurant prior to the meeting to scout what was happening following claims that Modack was linked to Sasha Towing.
He said Josephs observed a limousine arrive along with “Men In Black”, who appeared to be bodyguards.
The witness said he called Booysen as a precautionary measure and he agreed to attend the meeting, but his arrival sparked a heated exchange of words with Modack’s alleged henchman and co-accused, Jacques Cronje.
“He (Cronje) said he represented Modack and we told him that he is not in the tow trucking business and an argument ensued between Booysen and Cronje. After the exchange of words, everyone got up and nothing was resolved.”
This was, however, in contrast to the testimony of an earlier State witness who claimed that the matter was resolved, but said that he had been sent by Modack to kill Josephs to “send a message”.
The witness also admitted on the stand to shooting Josephs multiple times on September 19, 2019, and claimed the instruction came from Modack.
During the cross-examination Cronje’s legal representative, advocate Inge Jansen told the court that her client disputed this version, saying he was not sent by Modack but instead contracted by the owner of Sasha Towing to represent the company.
This, Jansen explained, was based on earlier information that Booysen would be present and the owner was fearful of her safety.
She said Cronje claims that Booysen got up and charged towards him, saying, “I am the Sheriff of Cape Town”.
Cronje responded saying; “I don’t care if you are who you say you are.”
Jansen says the two men then started swearing at each other and the meeting was called off.
The State witness said he could not dispute the exact words used in the argument while Modack denied having any knowledge of the meeting or links with Sasha Towing.
mahira.duval@inl.co.za
Cape Argus