Cape Town - One man has been found guilty of two murders and two attempted murders that occurred during a shooting incident outside a block of flats known as Gullhaven Court in the Robinvale area of Atlantis on the evening of January 1, 2020.
Anthonio Booysen, was found guilty while his two co-accused, Nadiem Thorpe and Cheslyn Johnson, were acquitted on all counts.
All three had been arraigned in the Western Cape High Court on eight charges including murder, attempted murder and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. The three accused pleaded not guilty on all counts.
Booysen chose not to give a plea explanation, and claimed to have been at home at the time of the shootings recovering from a marathon party at a house in nearby Beacon Hill to which he had gone on the previous day.
Thorpe explained that he had been shot in the ankle during the morning of the day in question and was not at the scenes where the shootings occurred, while Johnson said in his plea that he had been at home at the time of the incidents.
Gullhaven Court is one of 12 flat buildings referred to collectively as the Dura Flats. The court was told that the Dura Flats were a hive of gang activity.
Regarding some of the testimonies given in court, Judge Ashley Binns-Ward said: “It is readily understandable that residents in the area who witnessed gang-related shootings would be in danger should they give incriminating evidence against those involved.
“In the current case there was eyewitness testimony identifying all three accused as having been involved in the shooting incidents that gave rise to the charges brought against them.
“There was also evidence that all three of them were gang members and that the shootings were probably gang-related.
The judge said he had been particularly careful to look out for assurances of independence in the testimony of the eyewitnesses. He said this was because he was aware of the dangers present in the gang ridden context of the Robinvale community.