“I could foresee k*k coming.” So said an ex-cop as he laid bare the events that led up to the assassination of slain Anti-Gang Unit detective Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear at the Western Cape High Court.
Bradley Goldblatt said he gave numerous warnings that Kinnear was in danger in the weeks leading up to his murder.
Goldblatt, who provided access to the LAD platform to Zane Kilian in order for Kinnear and his colleague to be tracked via the pinging of their cellphones, has been indemnified from prosecution despite evidence showing that his platform violated the privacy rights of individuals.
In his much-anticipated testimony in the mammoth underworld trial against alleged kingpin Nafiz Modack, Goldblatt revealed that it had cost only a few thousand rands for those accused of plotting Kinnear’s murder to have access to his whereabouts and personal information.
He told the court that he had no authority to run the platform and had sold pings to Kilian, at R2100 for 50 pings. He further said he was using Marisit credit checking platform which he also sold to Kilian for R5000.
He said Kilian became a client in 2019 and was regarded as a ‘bad payer’ but this changed in March 2020 when he suddenly started purchasing more pings and paying upfront, and allegedly told Goldblatt it was being arranged through Modack.
Goldblatt said a month before Kinnear’s assassination he noted that Kilian’s use of the platform had become “excessive” and found that one specific number had been pinged multiple times.
After some research he discovered that the number belonged to Kinnear, and that Kilian had also been pinging Kinnear’s colleagues at AGU, as well as attorney William Booth.
After reading newspaper article about the shooting at Booth’s home, he realised there was a possible safety risk and contacted the Hawks.
Goldblatt told the court: "I could foresee k*k coming because I knew about Booth.”
Goldblatt said he met with Warrant Officer Wynand Olivier, who reported it to his superiors.
He then blocked Kilian’s usage and lied to him saying the system was down. But later Olivier told him that Kinnear had been provided with protection and that he should reinstate Kilian’s usage so that the Hawks could track him.
Goldblatt said he would call Olivier up to three times a day, worried that something would happen to Kinnear.
He said he was played a telephone recording between Olivier and former AGU boss Major-General Andre Lincoln, where Lincoln allegedly tells him that Kinnear is being protected by the SAPS Task Force.
The state also revealed a series of WhatsApp text between Goldblatt and Kilian amid requests for more pings.