An elaborate operation by the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) to source information by allegedly allowing a bandiet special privileges in jail has raised eyebrows at the Western Cape High Court.
This comes amid the ongoing underworld trial against alleged kingpin Nafiz Modack and several others.
Judge Robert Henney along with defence teams have started to poke holes in the State's case amid testimonies by police officers into the grenade attack on the home of slain detective Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear.
Former couple Amaal Jantjies and Janick Adonis are at the centre of the plot after the AGU busted Faeez “Mamokie” Smith with a grenade outside Kinnear's home on 23 November 2019.
Mamokie fingered the duo as those who hired him, but they have in turn blamed former AGU boss Major-General Andre Lincoln for the attack.
They claim they had been working with the elite police unit to recover firearms and provide information in the hopes that cops could help them secure bail for Adonis, who was in custody on another matter at the time.
But defence teams have highlighted that while the duo assisted in recovering very few firearms, officers took extraordinary measures to hold meetings with them.
This week, Captain Franklin Stone testified that he was part of a police escort responsible for transporting Adonis from court to the AGU base.
Adonis has made several shocking claims, including that he was handed a blue Dixon cellphone by Lincoln and told to stay in contact.
Yesterday, Adonis' legal representative dropped another bombshell claiming he was initially kept at Helderstroom Prison but was moved to Malmesbury Prison.
This, he claims, was done at the request of Lincoln as the security "was too tight" in Helderstroom, preventing him from using a cellphone.
Under cross-examination, Stone admitted that he was aware that Adonis had called him and spoke to Lincoln, but denied that his commander ever handed a cellphone back to Adonis after the attack.
Adonis further claimed that he was instructed to call Stone before Mamokie arrived with the grenade as it was a staged attack at the request of the police.
Henney questioned Stone about the cellphone records showing Adonis had called him, but when the cop said he was unsure about the cellphone access granted to Adonis, the judge quipped: "We were not born on Monday, we know how cellphones work in prison.“
Henney questioned why Adonis was allowed to visit a police base and why officers did not just interview him in prison, saying he found the situation “highly unusual”.
Meanwhile, Jantjies’ legal representative, Advocate Pauline Andrews, said Adonis also had other privileges in the mang, amid claims that he was allowed takeaway foods and visits with his parents.
Andrews told Stone: “I am going to argue that there is more than meets the eye between Mr Adonis and officers at the base.”